The Sun News reports that Air Force and Boeing officials gathered Tuesday for a ceremony to recognize that the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia had completed depot maintenance on 200 C-17 airlifters. USAF first fielded the newest of its strategic airlifters in 1993. As the newspaper noted, Congress appropriated funds to bring the total number of C-17s to 223 over Pentagon objections. The new Air Force budget once again calls for a halt to C-17 production.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.