Although Boeing officials say that they must cut off long-lead parts orders this month for the C-17 in preparation for closing the production line, the same is no longer true for the company’s 767 line. Mark McGraw, Boeing vice-president of tanker programs, said last week that the company has scrapped plans to shut down the 767 line—on which Boeing’s KC-767 tanker is based. Sales have picked up again, and “the talk of shutting down the 767 line has gone away,” McGraw said. Work proceeds on testing the KC-767 for Italy and Japan. The aircraft is developing well, McGraw said.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.