WASHINGTON — The four-star general in charge of the Air Force's cargo fleet said Wednesday that he saw no need for a new version of the hulking C-17 cargo aircraft being proposed by Boeing Co. as a way to extend the life of Southern California's last major airplane factory.
But Gen. Arthur J. Lichte said additional demands being placed on the Air Force, including the creation of a new African command and an increase in the size of the Army, could lead him to seek additional orders of the current C-17. That could prevent Boeing's Long Beach assembly line from closing in two years.
Boeing officials have said that the C-17 plant, which is adjacent to Long Beach Airport and employs about 5,000 workers, is scheduled to close in August 2010 if the aerospace giant gets no additional orders for the plane. Because of its size, the aircraft is primarily used to transport large shipments of military equipment over long distances.
Boeing's proposal, dubbed the C-17B, would overhaul the aircraft, giving it stronger engines and additional landing gear so that it could land at smaller, more rugged runways in war zones and enable it to become a more effective short-haul carrier.
But the Air Force is currently buying smaller Lockheed Martin-built C-130s for such short-haul missions, and Lichte, the head of Air Mobility Command, said he did not see a need for a "tactical" C-17.
"Right now -- and when I say right now, it's probably for the next 10, 15, 20 years -- we don't see as much a requirement for that," Lichte told a group of military reporters.
Despite Air Force resistance, Boeing could find more willing advocates within the Army, which is expected to need a larger cargo plane to transport a new family of armored vehicles that it is developing over the next decade. Boeing has been pushing the C-17B with the Army in hope that the Army can persuade the Air Force to consider the new aircraft.
The Air Force is planning on buying 205 C-17s, and Chicago-based Boeing has been aggressively marketing the aircraft to foreign buyers. But because of its high price, overseas sales so far have been limited to small buys by close allies of the U.S. such as Britain and Australia, and any long-term reprieve for the Long Beach plant probably would require larger purchases by the Pentagon.
