The C-5s Are Crimping C-17 Buy:

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne left no doubt that he wants to buy more C-17s, but the Congressional restriction on retiring any C-5s is holding the Air Force hostage. He told Senate appropriators last week, “It bothers me greatly to see the C-17 line closed.” Wynne explained that the service has “between 20 and 30 [C-5 airlifters] that may be good candidates for standing down,” instead USAF has been forced into “husbanding the C-5s” with service-life extensions. The Congressional restriction on retiring any of the now 111 C-5s “has made almost certain that we will not get the [C-17] line extension that we’re looking for over the long term.” He said the fact that the nation’s “strategic lift line may go quiet” adds to “our burden of strategic risk.”

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org