USAF Starts Contractor Hunt for Afghani C-130s
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130201/DEFREG02/302010020/USAF-Starts-Contractor-Hunt-Afghani-C-130s?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

אנקדוטות מעניינות

The RFI will initially cover four C-130H aircraft but leaves the option for “possible growth” in the future. The base of operations for the contract is tentatively listed as Kabul but the RFI notes that may change, as a site survey for C-130H infrastructure is planned in February. The USAF has developed a strategy to aggressively pursue delivering two C-130H aircraft in late CY 2013 and two additional C-130H aircraft before the end of CY 2014, “C-130s will let Afghanis start to build their own backbone of responsive airlift to move troops and supplies where they need them to enforce stability,” Rebecca Grant, president of Iris Independent Research, wrote in an email. “With C-130s, they can use the huge network of over 70 airfields and strips built up by the Coalition and do airdrop too.”

שימו לב לסיבה להשבתת צי ה C-27J.... צפי עלות מחזור חיים של המטוס כמעט משולשת בהשוואה לתכנון המקורי

The decision to move toward the C-130 is just the latest in a running battle between the two transport planes. In President Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget, the Air Force proposed canceling the C-27J program after concluding each plane would cost $308 million over its lifetime. Members of Congress have challenged the service on that estimate, citing previous Air Force studies that put the lifetime cost as low as $111 million per plane