All 47 C-5s to be modernized, senator says

[unhappycamper]

All 47 C-5s to be modernized, senator says
Staff report
Posted : Friday Feb 15, 2008 11:09:42 EST

The Air Force plans to modernize all 47 of its C-5B Galaxy aircraft by 2014, according to Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.

John Young, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, signed off on the modernization plan Thursday, according to a press release from Carper’s office. Although C-5As will not get the full modernization, which includes re-engining the giant cargo plane, the cockpits will receive the avionics upgrade. The improved C-5As will be used by the Air Guard and Air Force Reserve, Carper said.

In October, the Air Force announced that the C-5 modernization program had tripped cost-overrun limits set in the so-called Nunn-McCurdy provision, a procurement oversight law that requires the Pentagon to notify Congress when cost increases on a major acquisition program exceed 15 percent or when schedule delays reach six months.

If the cost overruns hit 25 percent, the Pentagon must justify continuing the program based on three main criteria: its importance to U.S. national security; the lack of a viable alternative; and evidence that the problems that led to the cost growth are under control.

According to a report by Reuters, Young said the cost of the pared-down C-5 modernization program will drop to $7.7 billion from last September's estimate of $17.5 billion for the overall program. That compares with initial estimates of $11.1 billion when the program began in November 2001.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/02/airforce_c5_080215w/