This round goes to the C-17 Defenders, in a clear and decisive victory. The end of this C-17 budget boxing matchup is fast approaching. It has been widely reported that the Senate appropriations committee passed a budget bill with funding for 10 more of the big planes, but that might not be the most important blow in this match.
The government's fiscal 2010 year starts on October 1, just an eye blink from now, and there seems to be little doubt that the defense budget bill will provide for at least a one year continuation in a program Secretary of Defense , Robert M. Gates, wants to terminate. Thus, we continue to expect that the Defenders will be the victors in this C-17 budget match up. However, the longer term fate of the C-17 production line may well rest on the linked fortunes of another heavy airlift military plane, the aging C-5, which also made some news of its own last week.
Last week, the Senate Appropriations committee, voting on a 30-0 vote approved the recommendations of its defense subcommittee by passing the 2010 defense budget and moving it along for a full senate vote possibly this week. The senate committee action, which we expected, reportedly took no more than 15 minutes to spend 636 billion of the taxpayers money. Once passed by the full senate, the bill could go to the conference committee to work out the differences with the House, potentially by the end of this month.
The House version of the defense budget includes funds for only 3 more C-17s. Since the Administration remains quiet on either version as it relates to C-17s, which means that essentially no one is pushing program termination or cut backs, we expect to see a final bill with at least 10 more of everybody's favorite big plane.
Most of the other major program cut backs proposed by Gates are reflected in the senate bill. These include the veto threatened F-22, the second engine for the new joint strike fighter, F-35, the new presidential helicopters, and the laser anti ballistic missile defense system. There are different provisions for many of these programs in the House bill, so the final outcome will wait for the results of the conference committee.
Since the senate bill excludes most of the programs Gates wants to end, the exception made for the C-17 makes its continued production appear that much more secure. If the final bill resembles the senate bill, The Administration Challengers will be able to claim a strong victory in the drive for defense acquisition reform, a presidential veto will be avoided, and the good people in Long Beach will get to continue doing what they do best.
Even if the Defenders get their 10 more C-17's for next year, Boeing builds about 15 of them per year. Thus, the long term fate of the production line is still unresolved. Boeing is out trying to sell more of the planes to other countries and with the production delays in the Airbus SAS A400M, that could proved lucrative. Another potential push for more C-17s would be the retirement of some or all of the aging fleet of C-5 Galaxies. One news source reported that the five year long ban on retiring any of the C-5As was lifted in the bill passed by the Senate committee. If this survives the remainder of the legislative process, that could mean a need for more C-17s.
