Thursday, October 29, 2009

Obama Signs Defense Budget which includes 10 C-17A's

President Barack Obama signed a $680 billion defense budget Wednesday that includes funding for up to 10 new Boeing C-17s, though Congress will decide in December just how many jets are ultimately ordered.

The bill signed by Obama at the White House - who previously objected to continued C-17 production - comes after months of uncertainty on the massive cargo plane's future, which had been scheduled to end production in mid-2011.

The new defense budget includes the $2.5 billion needed to build 10 more C-17s, though it doesn't specify exactly how the money will be spent.

That will be decided during negotiations between Senate and House members in December, when billions included in the budget are effectively divvied up for dozens of military projects, including C-17 production.

The House earlier this year had approved about $650 million for just three C-17s, but signaled it would likely support the 10 planes approved by the Senate when it agreed to include the $2.5 billion in the bill sent to Obama.

Congresswoman Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach, who sat on the House-Senate committee which finalized the bill signed by Obama, said support remains strong to purchase 10 planes, which would keep the plant and its 5,000 workers going through 2012.

"With the President signing the Defense Authorization Act into law today, the Long Beach workforce and residents are one step closer to extending the C-17 line into 2012 and preserving 5,000 local jobs," Richardson said following the signing ceremony at the Rose Garden. ""The House and Senate have both passed their versions of the appropriations bill, and a joint conference will finalize funding; however, $2.5 billion was included in the Authorization Act and is sufficient to place an order of 10 C-17s."

Richardson said Congressman Jack Murtha, D-Penn., who chairs the Defense Appropriations Committee in the House, has signaled support for the Senate's overwhelming desire to fund 10 C-17s, which the upper chamber approved in early October on a 93-7 vote.

"I have and will continue to reach out to Chairman Murtha to make sure the C-17s are adequately funded, though all of his responses have been positive," Richardson said. "Once the conference committee meets, I am confident that a resolution will be worked out providing appropriations for the necessary C-17s."

Meanwhile, in Long Beach, Boeing officials remain cautious despite Wednesday's news.

"It's not over yet," said Boeing Spokesman Jerry Drelling. "We continue to remain optimistic that when (Congress) meets to discuss defense appropriations in December, the support will remain for 10, or close to 10, C-17s. We're grateful for the support Congress continues to give for this important aircraft."

Throughout the summer and early fall, the White House had asked Congress to end funding for the plane, saying the 213 ordered are enough for the nation's military and humanitarian needs. Boeing delivered the 190th C-17 to the Air Force on Wednesday, which it plans to base at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina.

Obama alluded to the C-17 and other "pet projects" championed by senators during the signing ceremony and praised lawmakers for stripping some $35-billion in funding for the F-22 fighter jet and a new White House helicopter fleet.

"Wasting these dollars makes us less secure," Obama said Wednesday. "And that's why we have passed a defense bill that eliminates some of the waste and inefficiency in our defense process. Today we have proved that change is possible. It may not come quickly or all at once, but if you push hard enough, it does come."

Earlier this summer, as Congress was negotiating the defense bill, he indicated his desire that they not include more funding for the plane, which made its introduction in 1993.

"The administration strongly objects to funding for unrequested C-17 airlift aircraft," the White House stated at the time. "Analyses by the DOD have shown that the C-17s in the force and on order, together with the existing fleet of (Lockheed) C-5 aircraft, are sufficient to meet the Department's future airlift needs, even under the most stressing situations."

Still, despite his position, the $2.5 billion included in the budget wasn't enough to prompt a veto.

But Obama's objections, backed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, indicate the Boeing airlifter may have a more difficult time securing domestic orders next year - a fact that has prompted the company to aggressively market the aircraft abroad.

Already, more than a dozen C-17s have been collectively sold to the United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada and Australia in recent years, as well as a NATO-led consortium based in Hungary.

The United Arab Emirates has expressed interest in purchasing four of the heavy-lift aircraft and is expected to announce a deal soon, while the Indian Air Force is exploring purchasing as many as 10 C-17s in coming years, though negotiations are in very early stages and any aircraft are not likely to be built before 2013.

For those reasons, the domestic order this year could serve as a bridge until more foreign orders are drummed up. The federal government estimates closing the plant and re-opening could cost in excess of $1 billion.

Boeing says it needs about 12 orders annually to justify high labor and production costs and reassure its suppliers of the need to continue investing in C-17 parts.

In recent years, C-17s - along with heavy-lift helicopters - have been used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan to ferry supplies and troops between remote military outposts, largely replacing the vehicle convoys regularly used in the early days of both wars that were often destroyed by roadside attacks and bombs.

The effort, supporters say, has helped cut troop casualties while speeding up delivery of supplies. The C-17 is the globe's only large cargo plane able to land on unpaved, short landing strips in remote regions inaccessible to other large aircraft such as Lockheed's C-5.

The jet is capable of carrying large armored vehicles and tanks, tons of supplies or dozens of troops and their equipment, depending on need.

For example, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell lauded the plane's usefulness Oct. 1 as it began delivering the first of more than 6,600 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles to troops in Afghanistan. The "life-saving" vehicles will replace many of the armored Humvees currently in use, which have been criticized as inadequate navigating much of Afghanistan's rugged terrain, Morrell said.

Several hundred will be delivered into the region per month - primarily aboard C-17s - as the military gears up for what's expected to be an intense fight against insurgents based in mountain hideouts.

The C-17 has also frequently been called into service to deliver medical supplies, food, water and other necessities in the wake of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and more recently, the earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga in late September.

Shortly after that disaster, the Defense Department reported dispatching a fleet of C-17s based in Washington state and loaded with hundreds of laptop computers, pallets of medicine, tents, radios and satellite terminals, as well as nurses and doctors to help in the relief effort, to the tiny string of South Pacific islands.

(Long Beach Press Telegram)

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