Originally Posted by
henra
It is not the Job of the USAF to keep manufacturers happy. If they have enough Transport capacity why would they want to spend money they could use elsewhere on unneeded capability?!
The USAF is already way ahead of projected average airframe hours for this time in service for the C17 fleet. Low rate production would have kept the line alive for a measured recapitalization of the fleet. Unfortunately having the main manufacturing effort in California did not give it enough political pull to keep the line alive. The F35 however has a significant footprint in 31 states ensuring it is un-killable no matter how badly the program is going. Personally I think any airplane that is not full mission capable 17 years after first flight and still has over 100 seriously deficiencies is the very definition of failure