The 
Air Force formally has awarded Boeing a contract valued at $2 billion to produce 10 additional C-17 strategic transports—carrying through with a Congressional mandate written into the Fiscal 2007 defense bill. Boeing spokesperson Kerry Gildea said the additional aircraft are “already factored into Boeing’s C-17 production plan.” Coupling those 10 USAF airframes with international orders means the production line will run into late 2009. However, company officials have warned that if USAF—or Congress—wants more C-17s, the time to say so is now.
The Air Force kicked off one of its biggest exercises this week with the latest edition of Bamboo Eagle, featuring combined virtual and live training scenarios focused on test the command-and-control “nervous system” leaders need to operate on a complex joint battlefield spread over vast distances.
