In weeks just ahead, the Air Force will come face to face with the need to map a new course in air mobility, from strategic airlifters all the way down to individual para dropped pallets. It must settle debates that have raged for years. Many of the decisions will bring pain and will please no one. The result will show up in the new service budget, set for unveiling next month, and it could be dramatic. Air Force leaders may well close production of the C-17 transport, with no successor on the boards. They could abandon an important plan for upgrading the C-5 fleet. They are certain to fund a new aerial tanker, but they may reshape it under threat of litigation. They likely will have to truncate their plans to modernize the C-130 tactical airlifter.
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