Without orders for additional C-17s, Boeing’s Long Beach, Calif., line could well close in 2008, after the 180th airplane is built. Giambastiani, though negative about the idea, left the door to production slightly ajar. He noted that the C-17 matter is “still in play right now,” as the Pentagon heads into the home stretch on its Quadrennial Defense Review. “There are lots of ways to skin a cat,” he said. Watch this space.
The Air Force’s study of possible links to elevated rates of cancer among personnel who worked on intercontinental continental ballistic missiles has begun, the commander in charge of the U.S. ICBM fleet confirmed March 28. The initial phase of that study will mine cancer registries for information and compile a…