Boeing Co. leaders say that the U.S. military’s airlift needs are growing and that a Pentagon proposal to halt future orders for the C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane is premature.
Boeing, whose defense unit is headquartered in St. Louis, is trying to rally support for the C-17 on multiple fronts — arguing that ceasing production would erode the U.S. industrial base, costing thousands of jobs at Boeing plants and those of its main suppliers. But Boeing officials also emphasize the plane’s strategic value.
"Right now, since 9/11, the airplane has been flying at about a 15 percent higher rate than was anticipated," said Donald A. Anderson, Boeing’s C-17 program manager in St. Louis. "In addition, they’re talking about rebasing troops in the United States. They’re talking about an increase in the size of the Marines Corps and the Army.
"So it seems like the airlift requirements are growing. And you need airlifters to meet those needs."
Starting with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ announcement in early April and continuing through last week, the Pentagon has said it can get by with the 205 C-17s that are either in service or on order. The Air Force also uses the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy to transport weapon systems, cargo and personnel to overseas locations.
Republican Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond and Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, both of Missouri, have written letters supporting more orders of the C-17, and Machinists Union officials have traveled to Washington to show their support for a program that supports 900 jobs in St. Louis.
"This is high political theater," said analyst Richard Aboulafia of The Teal Group in Fairfax, Va. "The bottom line is I don’t think the line is threatened. But it is up to everybody from Department of Defense to Congress to Boeing to the unions to make it look as though it were."
The Defense Department has not sought funding for the C-17 in the last three years. But Congress has stepped in to add funding for more of the $202 million planes through supplemental defense appropriations bills.
Bond and Boeing officials have asked why Gates would halt C-17 orders while there is a study under way into the military’s future air-mobility needs. The results are expected this fall.
"But yet we’re making that decision now to stop the airplane," Anderson said. "So it seems somewhat premature cash advance payday loan."
Bond said shutting down production of the C-17 is a "dangerous gamble" and warned that the U.S. can’t afford to "lose the capability to transport safely our troops and equipment to anywhere in the world."
In a letter to President Barack Obama, McCaskill said the U.S. is "literally flying the wings off these planes," and added "this is not the time to end its production, especially in light of projected global mission sets for the U.S. military."
Both legislators also have gone to bat for Boeing’s St. Louis-built F/A-18 Super Hornet, whose future was placed in limbo under the latest Pentagon spending plan.
The C-17 is assembled at a plant in Long Beach, Calif. But the cargo door, cargo ramp, landing-gear pods, nose and engine pylons are built in St. Louis.
A November 2008 report by the Government Accountability Office recommended "careful planning to avoid shutting down the C-17 line prematurely." Both Boeing and the Air Force believe shutting down and restarting production "would not be feasible or cost effective," the report found.
The GAO cited the high costs of hiring and training a new work force, reinstalling equipment to proper working condition and re-establishing a supplier base.
Boeing has delivered the C-17 to other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The United Arab Emirates has announced its intent to buy four of the planes, and Qatar has ordered two and exercised an option on two additional C-17s.
But Anderson said international sales alone are not enough to sustain the C-17 line. Boeing officials say maintaining C-17 sales to the U.S. Air Force is necessary to keep the price of the planes competitive in the international market.
Defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said the C-17 is the best strategic airlifter ever built and "a very cogent case" can be made that terminating production at 205 planes would be too early. At the moment, he said, its future will be dictated by Congress.
"Here’s the bottom line to C-17," Thompson said. "If Congress doesn’t add money, there won’t be any more."
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