The CBO does say that by adding another 21 C-17s to the currently planned 180-aircraft fleet, the Air Force could deliver an additional 1,400 tons within the first six days—the point at which a prepositioned ship might arrive. And, the additional C-17s would continue to increase deliveries to a war theater by some 350 tons per day during surge operations. However, CBO sees the airfield infrastructure needs of C-17s as potentially problematic, whereas it says an airship would need no infrastructure. Hmmmmm.
With the Air Force in the midst of its biggest testing boom in decades, the Maintenance Operational Test (MxOT) Division at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., is making sure those tests include an often-overlooked perspective: that of maintainers.