Huelga en Boeing acabaría con la producción del C-17/Strike at Boeing C-17 plant might lead to program's end

El Pentágono ha presionado durante años al Congreso para cancelar el programa C-17, pero una huelga de los trabajadores de Boeing podría hacer que el avión dejara de producirse definitivamente. Los trabajadores reclaman mejoras salariales. Esta vez el Congreso tendría mas difícil la defensa del proyecto.
Boeing produce 16 C-17 por año, casi todos para la USAF, pero el ritmo de pedidos actual hará que baja a 10 unidades anuales.
La USAF siempre ha preferido modernizar a los veteranos C-5 y comprar mas unidades del C-130 Hercules, un avión mas adecuado para las misiones actuales en Oriente Medio.
combataircraft.com
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The Pentagon has wrestled with Congress for years to cancel the C-17 military-transport jet program, but it could be a production-line strike at the Boeing facility where the giant planes are built that will finally kill it.
"While both the union and Boeing talk about the potential for more sales to keep the line open, this may effectively seal its fate. ... The defenders of the program in Congress have pretty well spent their chips on past rescues of the program," Plucker said in an interview.
Boeing builds 16 C-17s a year, primarily for the U.S. Air Force, but orders have been declining for the pricey jet, and the company recently said it would lower its annual production rate to 10 by mid-2011.
The U.S. military has sought to end the program and instead upgrade its aging Lockheed Martin Corp. It also wants to buy more C-130 Hercules planes, a smaller transport aircraft that has proved versatile in wars in the Middle East.
combataircraft.com