C-17A Globemaster III - discussione ufficiale

[cama81]

e meno male che dove andavano elemosinando commesse al congresso , perché si rischiava la chiusura delle linee !

 

ps ma nessuno che abbia pensato o richiesto un kit per trasformarlo in tanker come il KC-130 ?

[diavolo rosso]

Bhe credo che trasformare un C 130 o un C 17 in aereocisterna sia molto diverso e dunque complicato.

[paperinik]

Questa è una di quelle foto davvero gustose...

Nella foto è ritratto il secondo esemplare di C-17 destinato al Qatar. A differenza del primo (che potete vedere qui: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Qatar-Emiri...632ab416e9d879f ) dipinto con l'usuale grigio scuro visto sui precedenti C-17, questo è dipinto nella livrea dalla Qatar Airways (la principale linea aerea del Qatar di proprietà del governo qatarino). E' il primo C-17 ad esibire una colorazione civile...spettacolare, non c'è che dire!

[Mone]

Bello non c'è che dire,ma perchè è stato fatto?Pubblicità?

[VittorioVeneto]

Ecco cosa si intende per piste semipreparate

 

 

 

 

Military Photos

[Hobo]

Bello non c'è che dire,ma perchè è stato fatto?Pubblicità?

 

E' uno dei due C-17 delle Forze Armate del Qatar anche se ha livrea della compagnia civile, l'altro ha livrea militare grigia. Sono operativi tutti e due e mi apre che hanno matricola civile e militare, come molti An-22, Il-76 e An-124 russi.

 

 

Ecco cosa si intende per piste semipreparate

 

 

Scherzi, la pista ha addirittura i cinesini ai lati: è preparatissima! Il C-17 ha operato da piste molto meno "semipreparate" di quella, anche se quella rende bene l'idea.

Modificato 14 Settembre 2010 da Hobo

[Tuccio14]

Quella è semplicemente una pista in terra battuta. Non che tutti gli aerei possano atterrarci, ma mi sembra fatta meglio di quella di Venezia Lido!

 

Non è la prima volta che gli arabi dipingono con la livrea della compagnia di bandiera (di solito in mano al governo) i cargo militari, guardate qui.

 

Ricordo di averlo visto atterrare a Ciampino poco dopo di un B747SP VIP dei reali Sauditi. Dal ponte superiore del mezzo Jumbo sono scesi loro, da quello inferiore la servitù, dal C-130 i bagagli... Durata della visita a Roma: un week end.

[matteo16]

Boeing: due milioni ore volo C-17

Il 10 dicembre la flotta mondiale dei quadrireattori da trasporto militare C-17 ha raggiunto i due milioni di ore di volo. Lo annuncia Boeing, subentrata a McDonnell Douglas nella produzione dell’aereo prodotto in 226 esemplari compresi 20 per l’esportazione. Il traguardo del milione di ore era stato raggiunto nel marzo 2006.

Link

[matteo16]

20 Gennaio 2011

Boeing riduce rateo produzione C-17

In attesa che l’interesse di India e Kuwait si traduca in ordini, Boeing ha annunciato che quest’anno costruirà 13 quadrireattori da trasporto C-17 per scendere poi a 10 nel 2012. La riduzione del rateo produttivo costerà circa 900 posti di lavoro a Long Beach e 200 in altri stabilimenti Boeing.

 

 

Link

[Tuccio14]

Mamma mia quanto personale impiega Boeing per produrre il Globemaster... Se per una riduzione di 3 unità all'anno si parla di 1100 lavoratori quanti cavolo sono in totale?

[matteo16]

Australia riceverà un quinto aereo da trasporto C-17 ad agosto

 

19:35 - martedì 19 aprile 2011

 

Canberra, Australia - Per maggiori esigenze legate a missioni di soccorso umanitario

 

 

(WAPA) - L'Australia ha firmato un accordo per l'acquisto di un quinto aereo McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III, che dovrebbe esserle consegnato, scrive Boeing, già nel mese di agosto, a causa della "Necessità urgente di un ulteriore aereo da trasporto da parte della Royal Australian Air Force" dovuta alla crescente esigenza di missioni umanitarie e di soccorso.

 

Il velivolo sarà utilizzato dal 36° squadrone dell'aeronautica militare reale dalla base aerea di Amberley, nel Queensland, e si affiancherà agli altri quattro esemplari dello stesso tipo che già equipaggiano la flotta australiana dal 2006-2008, e sono stati anche recentemente impiegati in operazioni condotte in alcune zone devastate quali il Giappone.

 

Il C-17 è un velivolo a reazione da trasporto tattico ad ala alta sviluppato originariamente da McDonnell Douglas e attualmente prodotto da Boeing.

(Avionews)

 

Link

[TT-1 Pinto]

L'acquisto di un quinto C-17A potrebbe significare la rinuncia da parte della RAAF ad esercitare un'opzione su ulteriori due LM C-130J ....

 

 

DATE: 19/04/11

SOURCE: Flight International

 

Australia to get fifth C-17 in August

 

By Craig Hoyle

 

Australia has signed an agreement to acquire a fifth C-17 strategic transport, with Boeing to deliver the aircraft in just four months' time.

 

Announcing details of the new Foreign Military Sales deal on 18 April, the US manufacturer said: "Due to the Royal Australian Air Force's immediate need for an additional airlifter, the US Air Force has approved Australia's request to take delivery of its fifth C-17 in August."

 

To be operated by the RAAF's 36 Sqn from Amberley air base, Queensland, the aircraft will join four others that entered use between 2006 and 2008. Its addition will allow the service to meet "an increased demand for humanitarian and disaster relief missions", Boeing says.

 

The RAAF has recently used its C-17s to support humanitarian relief operations following natural disasters that have devastated parts of Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

 

Plans to acquire the new aircraft were outlined by Australian minister of defence Stephen Smith at the Avalon air show earlier this year, when he revealed that Canberra had requested pricing and availability data from the US government.

 

In a 9 March notification to Congress, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency valued the sale at an estimated $300 million, including associated equipment, spare parts, training and logistical support.

 

Australia's decision to buy a fifth C-17 is expected to mean that it will not exercise an option to acquire two more Lockheed Martin C-130J tactical transports to expand the RAAF's current 12-strong fleet.

 

Boeing has so far delivered 230 C-17s, including 210 to the USAF. The type is also operated by Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the UK, and by a 12-member group of NATO and Partnership for Peace nations.

 

[Hobo]

Australia riceverà un quinto aereo da trasporto C-17 ad agosto

 

19:35 - martedì 19 aprile 2011

 

(Il C-17 è un velivolo a reazione da trasporto tattico ad ala alta sviluppato originariamente da McDonnell Douglas e attualmente prodotto da Boeing.

(Avionews)

 

Link

 

Da quello che so io il C-17 è un trasporto strategico, non tattico. Anche se con doti di decollo corto da piste inprovvisate che lo avvicinano a un trasporto tattico.

Credo che sia per questo che non so se è il terzo o il quarto aereo più caro al mondo.

Dovrebbe esistere un accordo tra Australia a Nuova Zelanda per l'utilizzo dei C-17 australiani, come si è visto in occasione del terremoto di Christchurch. (Rivista Aeronautica, n° 2, 2011, pag 66).

Modificato 20 Aprile 2011 da Hobo

[TT-1 Pinto]

Le capacità "tattiche" del C-17 vennero utilizzate per la prima volta nel 2003 nel corso delle operazioni nel nord dell'Irak.

Ecco come vengono descritte in un articolo apparso sul numero di Luglio 2003 del mensile "Air Force Magazine" ....

 

 

The Northern Front

 

When Turkey decided that US forces could not transit its territory to invade Iraq from the north, it seemed at first that there would be no northern front to the war.

 

A flight of 15 C-17s, however, was able to bring in 954 troops of the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, which parachuted into the war zone on the night of March 26. They landed and regrouped in the vicinity of Iraq’s Bashur airfield, which then was taken and used as an American supply hub.

 

The C-17s staged out of Aviano AB, Italy, not far from Vicenza, where the paratroopers were stationed. Flying direct from Aviano, the first five aircraft dropped equipment while the other 10 dropped paratroopers. Flying in darkness, the C-17 pilots used night vision goggles and made use of special field lighting set up by US Special Operations Forces.

 

The C-17s deployed another 1,200 troops to Bashur over the next few nights. On April 8, C-17s began the delivery of five US Army M1A1 tanks, five Bradley fighting vehicles, 15 M113 armored personnel carriers, and 41 Humvees, along with other equipment from the 63rd Armored Regiment in Germany. The job required 27 round-trips between Ramstein AB, Germany, and Bashur.

 

This marked the first time that the big 65-ton Abrams tank had been flown directly into a combat sector, and the airdrop of troops marked the C-17’s first combat personnel drop. Both types of operations had been practiced in preceding months.

 

The C-17 was the only airlifter able to operate on unimproved runways and one of only two aircraft (the other is the C-5) able to lift the Abrams tank. The limit is one Abrams per aircraft per mission.

 

“The reason we had a northern front in Iraq was because of the C-17,” asserted Maj. Gen. Roger A. Brady, AMC’s director of operations. “It has the capability to carry a lot of people and supplies into relatively short strips and that’s a unique characteristic of that airframe.”

 

Brady reported that M1A1 tanks had been deployed elsewhere in Iraq, too. “We did take in some tanks ... in some other operations in southern Iraq,” he said. “Obviously, at one tank per [aircraft], it’s not the preferred way to move tanks.”

 

The vehicles were moved by aircraft chiefly because of the distances involved and the need to beef up the capability of small ground forces in places such as captured airfields in western Iraq.

 

The C-17 achieved a mission capable rate during the war of 88.2 percent, and the airplane has been turning in an MC rate “in the high 80s” for years now, said Brig. Gen. Loren M. Reno, AMC director of logistics. Its performance has been “magnificent,” he said.

 

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2003/July%202003/0703mobility.aspx

[matteo16]

14:27 - mercoledì 11/05/2011

 

Boeing consegna agli Emirati Arabi primo aereo C-17 Globemaster III

 

Seattle, Usa - Di un ordine di sei esemplari

 

 

(WAPA) - Boeing ha annunciato che nel corso di una cerimonia tenuta presso il suo impianto di assemblaggio a Long Beach, ha consegnato il primo aereo McDonnell Douglas Globemaster C-17 agli Emirati Arabi Uniti.

 

Si tratta del primo facente parte di un ordine di sei esemplari, che gli Eau impiegheranno nella propria aeronautica militare e per la difesa aerea e in particolare per lo svolgimento di missioni umanitarie e di trasporto strategico, anche a livello internazionale.

 

Entro la fine del 2012 dovrebbe venire completata la consegna di tutti gli aerei previsti nella commessa: tre dovrebbero venire consegnati nel 2011 e i rimanenti due nel corso del prossimo anno.

 

I nuovi velivoli degli Emirati Arabi Uniti, spiega Boeing, riceveranno, come tutti gli esemplari di questo tipo nella "Flotta virtuale dei C-17 nel mondo", i benefici della Sustainment Partnership, un programma multinazionale di logistica basato sulla performance, attraverso il quale i clienti ricevono "Un supporto logistico onnicomprensivo a livello globale (parti, equipaggiamento di supporto, ordini tech, ingegneria di sostegno e team di settore sul posto) attraverso l'uso di risorse condivise da tutta la flotta dei C-17".

 

Il McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III è un aereo da trasporto tattico sviluppato inizialmente da McDonnell Douglas e successivamente prodotto da Boeing.

(Avionews)

Link

[TT-1 Pinto]

Riuscire a tenere aperta la linea di montaggio a cadenza ridotta .... mantenendo un prezzo accessibile ....

.... le aspettative di Boeing ....

 

Fonte: AviationWeek.com (May 11, 2011)

 

Boeing Looks To Plug Gaps In C-17 Production

 

By Guy Norris

 

 

LONG BEACH, Calif.

— Boeing remains confident of bolstering its C-17 backlog with additional international sales on top of the expected order from India, despite the challenges of maintaining unit cost in the face of reduced production rates, possible gaps in the delivery stream and no new U.S. Air Force orders.

 

Although the company is in the midst of a planned drawdown of production from 15 to 10 per year, “the goal is to maintain the same price,” says Tommy Dunehew, C-17 business development vice president. Despite this being a challenging target, additional international business should help to balance the books and fill potential gaps as the company looks to stabilize at the reduced rate in 2012, Dunehew adds.

 

Boeing says the Indian government is “going through the final steps” toward confirming its order for 10 aircraft, with the first expected to be delivered at the end of 2012. Part of the issue with the order has always been how to maintain the Long Beach assembly line while meeting the Indian air force’s stretched-out delivery requirements of five aircraft per year, with deliveries at roughly two-month intervals. “We’re out there looking for customers to fill those gaps, and we have another couple of them out there,” Dunehew says. “It’s looking pretty good.”

 

Based on the existing production profile, and depending on the outcome of talks over other customer deliveries planned for next year, the U.S. Air Force is set to receive its final C-17 in September 2012. Overall, Boeing is under contract to deliver 223 to the Air Force, of which 210 have so far been handed over. The initial availability of slots on the production line for new orders means Boeing could release aircraft for delivery “in about a year or so from now for an existing customer,” or in 2013 if it’s a “brand new” customer, Dunehew says.

 

Aside from India, additional international C-17 orders are in the cards from Kuwait, which has a letter of request for a single aircraft announced last September, plus an additional two held as options by Qatar. “Interest in Southeast Asia is growing, and there’s more in the Middle East,” says Mark Kronenberg, Boeing vice president of international business development. Based on the supplementary purchases by Australia and the U.K., two of the three original “ABC” international customers along with Canada, he adds, “I’d not rule out any more of the ABCs acquiring extra aircraft.”

 

Boeing commented on future prospects for additional sales as the United Arab Emirates took delivery of the first of six C-17s on May 10. The UAE will receive three more C-17s during 2011, and two in 2012. The latest aircraft will become the 232nd C-17 in service and the 22nd to be delivered to an international customer. Other overseas deliveries set for this year include a fifth C-17 to Australia.

 

Excluding pending orders from India, Kuwait and others, the remaining backlog now stands at 21. This represents around two year’s worth of production at the new rate.

 

[matteo16]

13:09 - martedì 07/06/2011

 

India, ok all'acquisto di 10 aerei C-17 Globemaster III da Boeing

 

Nuova Delhi, India - Un accordo dal valore di 4 miliardi di dollari

 

 

(WAPA) - Secondo quanto riferito dalla stampa internazionale, nel corso di un meeting della commissione di governo sugli affari relativi alla sicurezza, l'India avrebbe dato l'autorizzazione alla firma del più grande contratto mai siglato dal Paese con un'azienda americana.

 

Si tratta, infatti, di un'intesa dal valore di 4,1 miliardi di dollari, che prevede l'acquisto di 10 aerei C-17 Globemaster III, per il trasporto di equipaggiamenti pesanti. La finalizzazione dell'accordo, lungamente attesa, fa seguito a una prima dimostrazione di interesse verso i velivoli espressa dall'India nel 2009, e all'invio di una lettera formale di richiesta per questi esemplari all'inizio del 2010. Alla fine dello scorso anno, inoltre, il presidente Usa Barack Obama in visita in India aveva firmato un accordo preliminare in merito.

 

In seguito alla finalizzazione dell'accordo, l'India potrebbe avanzare un ordine per sei ulteriori esemplari, un'intenzione già discussa, nel mese di aprile, in colloqui informali fra India e Stati Uniti.

 

L'approvazione all'acquisto da parte di Nuova Delhi, comunque, giunge a due mesi di distanza dall'esclusione di Boeing dalla gara da 12 miliardi di dollari per la fornitura di 126 caccia all'India.

 

Il McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III è un aereo da trasporto tattico con capacità strategica ad ala alta originariamente sviluppato da McDonnell Douglas e attualmente prodotto dalla Boeing.

 

(Avionews)

[cama81]

un chiaro contentino (ne dessero pure a noi di così..) per l'eslusione dalla gara per i caccia

[TT-1 Pinto]

Per Boeing, che vedeva avvicinarsi la chiusura della catena di montaggio dei "Globemaster III, si tratta indubbiamente di una bella notizia ....

 

Fonte: Aerospace Daily and Defense Report (AW&ST)

 

Indian C-17 Deal Extends Production

 

By Robert Wall, Jay Menon (June 7, 2011)

 

 

PHILADELPHIA and NEW DELHI

 

— The Indian cabinet’s decision to proceed with a U.S. foreign military sale purchase of 10 C-17s should stretch the California-based Boeing production line until 2014.

 

The exact timeline will be dictated by the delivery schedule included in the yet-to-be-signed letter of agreement between the Indian government and the U.S. The 10 aircraft are expected to be delivered in two batches — five aircraft one year and five more the next.

 

Jean Chamberlin, vice president of mobility systems for Boeing, says the deal will likely keep the line open until 2014, although the company is looking for additional international orders to stretch production.

 

Boeing is in the process of reducing output to 10 aircraft a month from a rate of 13 while keeping the airlifter’s price constant. The move is aimed at stretching out the production line to buy time to capture additional orders. The rate reduction should be achieved in the third quarter.

 

A further decrease is not possible, however, Chamberlin says, noting that a rate study looked at having output drop to six or eight aircraft a year, but that would have triggered a noticeable cost increase to the airlifter.

 

The C-17s will be India’s biggest defense deal with the U.S. after New Delhi shut out Boeing and Lockheed Martin from an $11 billion fighter jet project for the Indian Air Force (IAF) in late April.

 

India is likely to opt for an additional six C-17s after the contract is signed for the first lot of 10 aircraft as the IAF is keen on increasing its heavy-lift capability, says a senior Indian defense ministry official.

 

Boeing, which also is in contention for IAF’s requirement for 22 attack helicopters and another 15 heavy-lift helicopters, expressed satisfaction with the India government’s decision.

 

The U.S. administration has been promoting the sale of C-17s to India since the visit of President Barack Obama to New Delhi last November.

 

The final contract is expected to be signed within a couple of months after India issues the letter of acceptance to the U.S. government. The contract entails an offset clause under which Boeing will reinvest nearly $1 billion back in the Indian defense, internal security, aviation and related training sectors.

 

The C-17 is capable of carrying a payload of 164,900 lb. and can take off from a 7,000-ft. airstrip. The four-engine aircraft can transport tanks and combat-ready troops over 2,400 nm. “Once this over $4 billion sale is finalized, the economic impact will be felt by 30,000 American workers and 650 American suppliers located in 44 states,” U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer had said in anticipation of the deal’s approval.

 

According to the Indian air force, the C-17 would significantly augment India’s military airlift and humanitarian/disaster relief capability over large distances.

 

Currently, the IAF has about a dozen Russian Il-76 “Gajraj” aircraft, with its medium-lift fleet comprising 104 Russian An-32s.

 

In a bid to modernize its military, India is likely to buy arms worth $120 billion between 2012 and 2017 as it seeks to overhaul its defense capabilities, according to a 2010 estimate by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India.

 

 

E si prospetta inoltre la possibilità di un ulteriore ordine di sei esmplari ....

 

DATE: 07/06/11

SOURCE: Flight InternationalIndian

 

Cabinet confirms C-17 buy

 

By Greg Waldron

 

 

The Indian cabinet has approved the purchase of 10 Boeing C-17 strategic transports, with the largest ever US-Indian arms deal to value $4.1 billion.

 

India's Cabinet Committee on Security has signed off the Foreign Military Sales deal, said the Indian air force. Separately, an industry source said the Indian government had notified the US embassy in New Delhi of the decision.

 

The final step in the purchase process will be the signing of a letter of agreement between the Indian and US governments. The air force expects this soon, but is uncertain about the exact timing.

 

Finalisation of the C-17 deal has been long awaited in Indian defence circles. The air force was first briefed on the aircraft in 2007, and New Delhi officially expressed interest in 2009. This was followed by a formal letter of request to the US in early 2010. The sale received a major boost in late 2010 when US president Barack Obama signed a preliminary agreement for the 10 C-17s during a visit to India.

 

Boeing vice-president for mobility Jean Chamberlin said the Indian order would extend activities at the company's Long Beach production line in California through 2014. The company is trying to keep production alive through 2017 to be available when the US Air Force decides whether to induct its Lockheed C-5A fleet into a reliability enhancement and re-engining programme, or replace them with additional C-17s.

 

In April, Boeing Military Aircraft president Chris Chadwick told Indian media that India and the USA were holding informal talks over increasing the order with six additional C-17s.

 

Though expected, New Delhi's approval of the deal should go some way to soothing US-Indian relations, which were strained when two American aircraft, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin F-16IN Super Viper, were eliminated from the $10.1 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) competition.

 

The rejection was viewed as a snub to the USA, which had mounted a strong effort to win the MMRCA deal. Despite the setback, in recent years Boeing and rival Lockheed have enjoyed strong sales in India. The air force ordered six Lockheed C-130Js in 2008 in a $1.2 billion deal, followed, a year later, by the $2.1 billion purchase of eight Boeing 737-based P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

 

While the air force has not outlined specific missions for the C-17, its aircraft are likely to play an important role in supplying remote military outposts in the Himalayas, many of which are inaccessible by road. In service with other air forces, the C-17 has also emerged as a capable platform in dealing with humanitarian crises, a role it will no doubt also be used for in Indian service.

 

[TT-1 Pinto]

Boeing conferma .... l'India ha firmato il contratto ....

 

DATE: 15/06/11

SOURCE: Flight International

 

Boeing confirms India has signed C-17 deal

 

By Stephen Trimble

 

Boeing has announced the signing of a previously announced order for 10 C-17s for the Indian air force that will extend production of the tactical airlifter by one year.

 

The signing of the $4.1 billion order means that Boeing now has 28 C-17s in an order backlog stretching to mid-2014, with India now the largest of six international operators.

 

The future of C-17 production now depends on whether Boeing can scrape at least 30 additional aircraft orders within the next five years. At that point, the US Air Force may consider alternatives to inducting about 30 more Lockheed Martin C-5As into a reliability enhancement and re-engining programme.

 

Unrest in the Middle East has shifted priorities in some key countries. This has prolonged discussions on potential deals with Qatar to purchase two more C-17s and with Kuwait to buy its first C-17, said Bob Ciesla, Boeing's C-17 programme manager.

 

"It's not number one on that priority list to work through," Ciesla said.

 

Meanwhile, local reports in India suggest that the nation's air force may sign orders for more than six additional C-17s within a few years.

 

Boeing is now in the process of reducing its yearly production rate from 15 to 10, which should be complete by the end of the third quarter, Ciesla said. The company also has studied options to drop yearly rates to as low as six aircraft, but decided this number makes the C-17 "unaffordable", he added.

 

"Ten is that knee in the curve," he said. "That's where we need to be."

 

[VittorioVeneto]

Venti USAF C-17 Globemaster III volano sopra Charleston (South Carolina) , il 21 Dicembre 2006. I C 17 assegnati al 437th e 315th Airlift wing alla Charleston AFB prendono parte alla più larga formazione di apparecchi provenienti da una stessa base e dimostrano la capacità di aviolancio strategico dell'USAF

 

[Tuccio14]

Immagini da Seconda Guerra Mondiale... Comunque avete notato con che assetto volano quei bestioni?

[Hobo]

Si credo che sia per l'aviolancio a bassa quota: bassa velocità, ipersostentatori fuori.

Modificato 20 Luglio 2011 da Hobo

[TT-1 Pinto]

L'India non acquisterà altri C-17 .... almeno per il momento ....

 

DATE: 08/08/11

SOURCE: Flight International

 

India has no current plans for additional C-17s

 

By Greg Waldron

 

 

India's defence minister has scotched rumours that the country has immediate plans to buy more than 10 Boeing C-17 strategic transports.

 

"There is presently no proposal for procurement of additional C-17s for the Indian Air Force," said defence minister A K Antony, in a brief written response to a question in parliament.

 

Rumours on Indian websites had pointed towards New Delhi ordering an additional six C-17s, with a further purchase beyond this.

 

On 6 July, India's cabinet confirmed that the nation would buy 10 C-17s for $4.1 billion, the largest ever India-US arms deal.

 

The deal was long awaited, as India had first expressed interest in the aircraft in 2009, followed by a formal letter of request in early 2010.

 

The sale of additional C-17s to India would be a major boost for Boeing, which has just 28 C-17s on its order backlog, stretching to mid-2014.

 

Boeing said that India's C-17s are due to be delivered in the 2013-14 timeframe, but has provided no further details.

 

The future of C-17 production depends on whether Boeing can scrape together at least 30 additional aircraft orders within the next five years. At that point, the US Air Force may consider alternatives to inducting about 30 more Lockheed C-5As into a reliability enhancement and re-engining programme.

 

[Tuccio14]

Ma non potrebbero risolvere il problema "congelando" le linee di produzione e cassaintegrando per un po' gli operai? Ovvio che prima di tutto si cerca di vendere e poi di diluire la produzione, ma da come la mette Boeing pare un problema insormontabile... Insomma, gli USA stanno esaurendo il proprio "credito" verso gli alleati a forza di C-17, fossi un industriale della difesa statunitense mi arrabbierei...