In a new diatribe on Pentagon foibles, the Lexington Institute’s Loren Thompson hammers the decision to stop producing C-17 airlifters. He calls it the “dumbest weapons decision of the decade.” (He may be right.) In describing how the Pentagon could be so wrong about airlift, Thompson asserts that Pentagon officials simply made up assumptions to produce desired results for last year’s so-called Mobility Capabilities Study. He then says, “And, just to be on the safe side, you keep almost everybody from the Air Force’s mobility community out of the room.” Ouch.
The United States Air Force is flying less than historic norms and funding for acquisition and readiness is on a path to further hollow out this too small and old force to that is incapable of sustaining an enduring combat air campaign.
