C-17 faces the axe

WASHINGTON: Boeing may end its production of C-17 cargo aircraft even though politicians in Congress have added a request for 10 additional planes to the defence budget, the aerospace company says.

“It is possible that we will decide in 2007 to complete production of the C-17 if further orders are not received,” Boeing says in its third-quarter report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Boeing said in March it had stopped procurement of parts for new C-17s not under contract or with firm commitments because of a lack of additional US government and international C-17 orders.

The Pentagon left new C-17 transport planes out of its budget request this year and budgeted $US500 million to halt the planes’ production, according to the Washington Post.

Seven members of the House of Representatives have responded to lobbying by Air Force officials and Boeing by inserting into the defence budget bill a demand that the Air Force pay Boeing $US2.42 billion for 10 new C-17s, the Post reports.

Boeing said that in June it had directed key suppliers to begin work on 10 aircraft beyond the 190 currently on order. (There were currently 190 planes on order by the US Air Force, Boeing said in its quarterly report. As of September 30, the company had delivered 169 of the 190 aircraft.)

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