The Sun News reports that Air Force and Boeing officials gathered Tuesday for a ceremony to recognize that the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia had completed depot maintenance on 200 C-17 airlifters. USAF first fielded the newest of its strategic airlifters in 1993. As the newspaper noted, Congress appropriated funds to bring the total number of C-17s to 223 over Pentagon objections. The new Air Force budget once again calls for a halt to C-17 production.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.