Request for more C-17s up in the air.

Although the U.S. Transportation Command repeatedly has asked the Air Force to buy more C-17 heavy lift cargo airplanes, a decision to do so is far from certain. Congress already approved 180 aircraft, but TRANSCOM would like 222, based on the ever-growing demands for airlift. Air Force Secretary James Roche, however, is not convinced that the surge in airlift demand necessarily warrants more aircraft.

TRANSCOM naturally has been overstretched as a result of ongoing wars, but it doesn't mean that its requirements for airlift will be this high on a permanent basis, Rodin says. "You have to ask the question: How often would you face a situation like Iraq? ... How often would we fight hundreds of miles inland, away from the sea, as in Afghanistan?" The required number of C-17s should not go up necessarily, but Roche cautions that he would not be surprised if a future TRANSCOM study proved that the number should be increased.