The Air Force Chief of Staff says he and the Air Staff are looking at re-jiggering the plan for C-130 acquisition. The reason: It will cost about $20 million a piece to fix the cracked wing boxes on 170 1960s-vintage C-130Es. Meanwhile, a brand-new C-130J costs about $70 million each. “We want to know … is there a better way?” said Gen. Michael Moseley. First priority for the Hercules fleet will be the Avionics Modernization Program for the C-130H models, and USAF is looking at a “continued buy” of some number of C-130Js rather than fixing up the old ones, explained Moseley at a seminar Tuesday. He has concerns “about spending $20 million to fix the E, because at the end of the day, it’s still an E.”
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
