McCain Zeroes In On Raptor Buy

Sen. John McCain at Tuesday’s armed services hearing on tactical aviation asked the Air Force’s military deputy for acquisition when Congress would see the service’s new business case study citing projected savings for the proposed multiyear buy. Lt. Gen. Donald J. Hoffman noted that the Air Force expects to save around $500 million through the life of the program, and he said that the service would not have preliminary findings until next month. McCain protested, asking whether the Air Force expected Congress to fund the program “on the basis of trust” since the numbers haven’t been crunched yet, and the estimates are based on “rough analysis.”