Lockheed Martin has proposed giving the Air Force a fixed price to pursue the reliability enhancement and re-engining program for a finite number of C-5 airlifters. Roxana Tiron of The Hill reports that Lockheed on May 17 offered to RERP 108 C-5s for a total of $11.6 billion, which is about $3 billion shy of the projected nearly $15 billion. Lockheed officials are trying to counter the recent House Armed Services Committee OK for the Air Force to retire the older C-5As in favor of purchasing more Boeing C-17s.
The Air Force could conduct an operation like Israel's successful air campaign against Iran's nuclear sites, military leadership and air defenses, but readiness issues would make it risky, airpower experts said. Limited spare parts and training, low mission capable rates and few flying hours would put a drag on USAF's…