Update | Boeing To Focus On International C-17 Sales
1:40pm | A budget submitted by the Department of Defense today calls for an end to the Boeing C-17 program despite containing a record $708 billion in spending, several news outlets are reporting.
The Boeing C-17 is assembled almost entirely here in Long Beach and provides about 5,000 jobs to the region.
The Obama Administration is attempting to cease the program and others like it in favor of smaller, unmanned aircraft. Last year (Fiscal Year 2010), the Department allocated $2.5 billion towards new C-17 aircraft but this year (Fiscal Year 2011) will not submit any new orders after the current run is completed.
As this Politico article explains, Congress traditionally will attempt to tack on spending for the C-17 and programs like it when they do not make it into the original budget. But Politico’s Jen Dimascio reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will take a hard stand against any Congressional add-ons.
Click here to read another informative article by Wall Street Journal reporter August Cole.
Several foreign nations have ordered C-17 aircraft and extended its production life for at least a few more years, but the loss of U.S. orders would be a heavy blow to the program.
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