Originally Posted by
ORAC
Been through this before. All the jigs and productions facilities for the C-17 are gone, even the entire production site is gone. Many of the parts - such as even the engines - are out of production and no longer available.
With the redesign needed to introduce modern materials, and meet new requirements, restarting production could take longer and be more expensive than a new programme - though I am sure Boeing would love it.
Surely the whole point (and benefit) would be not to do any re-design or introduce new materials...?
Its quite a sensible thing to consider, it would still be a huge time saving, even with creating a new production facility, new tooling, and putting new engines and kit back into production....compared to a new clean sheet design that would add a decade plus to getting to first flight off the line.