Boeing Says It Must Close Line This Year: Boeing officials say they must have new orders for the C-17 airlifter this year or they will have to close the production line. Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems chief, Jim Albaugh, told Dow Jones Newswires that the company has not gotten any new foreign orders since the four it is building for Australia, so it will have to start shutting down the line, if Congress does not approve an unfunded request from the Air Force for seven additional C-17s. Buying more than the currently planned 180 C-17s has support in both houses of Congress.
The Air Force is slashing all civilian positions at its premier research institute for Chinese military aviation, prompting concern among experts who say it will dilute the service’s focus on the Pentagon’s most significant long-term adversary.
