Army Secretary Francis Harvey told defense reporters in Washington Thursday morning that the services definitely need more cargo airplanes. He included in that assessment the new Army-Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft program to produce “a son of a C-130,” but he emphasized the need for additional strategic airlift, specifically USAF’s C-17. “Remember that the C-17 is very key to the deployability of the Army’s [Future Combat System],” said Harvey, adding that “21st century conflicts require rapid deployability.”
The Air Force has finished resurrecting a B-1B Lancer, completing a yearslong process to transform a bomber that had been stored for parts in the Arizona desert into the new flagship of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.