The House Armed Services Committee has decided that it will permit the Air Force to retire its C-5A aircraft—comprising the 60 oldest airframes in the C-5 fleet. However, in marking up its version of the 2007 defense authorization bill, the panel also stipulated that the service must maintain at least 299 strategic airlifters, beginning in 2009. Currently, the Air Force has 51 later model C-5s and plans only to buy 187 C-17s. Do the math—if the service retires all 60 A models, it would be short by 61 aircraft.
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.