According to the knowledgeable Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, Army officials are concerned about the Pentagon’s plan to limit the buy of new C-17 airlifters to just 180 (or 187, if Congress approves USAF’s unfunded request). Thompson made this claim in a May 3 issue paper and in remarks at the Heritage Foundation last week. In his issue paper, Thompson does not name names, but he states that “senior Army officials” believe USAF must buy more C-17s otherwise the Army’s “future combat systems may lack adequate mobility.” So where were these “senior” officials when last year’s Mobility Capabilities Study determined 180 was the magic number
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.