Congressional defense appropriators added funding in Fiscal 2012 for the Air Force to procure a C-17 to replace the loss of another C-17 that crashed at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, in July 2010. The Air Force did not request this replacement, but lawmakers included the $225 million in the 2012 omnibus spending bill that President Obama signed into law late last month. USAF spokesman Maj. Chad Steffey confirmed to the Daily Report that the extra aircraft will bring the size of the service’s total C-17 buy to 224 airframes to meet its authorized fleet size of 223. The Air Force already has let contracts to Boeing for 218 of those airframes. Steffey said the additional aircraft has not been added yet to the production schedule at Boeing’s assembly line in Long Beach, Calif., but the Air Force anticipates taking delivery of it in early 2013.
The Air Force is spending heavily on F-22 improvements through the end of the decade, suggesting it may not retire the jet in 2030 as it previously planned. New sensors, fuel tanks, communications, and electronic warfare systems are among the upgrades that comprise the package.