+

-

The Boeing C-17 continues to rise from the ashes – bringing 5,000 Long Beach jobs up along with it – as President Obama on Wednesday signed a defense bill that includes funding to purchase more of the large but versatile aircraft. The funding set aside for C-17 purchases is enough for 10 of the aircraft, although Congress will decide in December exactly how many are ordered, according to the Press-Telegram’s Kris Hanson.

The C-17 Globemaster III is produced at Boeing’s Long Beach facility and support 5,000 jobs through the program, which Boeing said was in danger if the defense bill did not include funding for the planes. Opponents argued that the aircraft was outdated, but Boeing responded that the C-17 should continue to be produced in order to ease the transition from producing the C-17 to a newer model that is still years away. Failing to order new C-17s would kill the program, which would kill the replacement aircraft as well, they said.

Some legislators were concerned with the high cost of the aircraft during these tight economic times, but the latest defense bill calls for up to $2.5 billion for ten new planes. Other aircraft programs like the F-22 fighter jet were left out of the bill entirely.

Comments

Click Here to Join the Discussion on this Story

3 Comments so far.

Display Name :
E-mail Address :
Comment :