Boeing on Friday directed its C-17 program suppliers to “stop work on uncommitted airplanes.” The company said that it could no longer “continue carrying the program,” after spending its own money for more than a year to sustain the production line while the Pentagon attempted to sort out its mobility requirements. Despite late interest from NATO for eight of the new airlifters, Boeing says that international orders and commitments and the three additional C-17s included in the yet-to-be finalized 2007 DOD budget “are not enough to sustain continued production beyond mid-2009.”
The "Air Force One" replacement will be two to three years late due to pandemic issues, testing, and the loss of a subcontractor on the interior, USAF officials reported at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. They were also warned that some HASC members will insist on a competition for…