C-17 halt to cost $8.4B

Published: Feb 15, 2006
Source: www.presstelegram.com



WASHINGTON - The Pentagon's plan to mothball production of the C-17 cargo plane in Long Beach would have a devastating effect beyond Southern California, sucking about $8.4 billion from the economy and eliminating more than 25,000 jobs nationwide, a new federal study says.

The report by the U.S. Department of Commerce said suppliers from Gardena to Virginia would be forced to cease operations; the production of the Apache helicopter and other aircraft tied to the C-17 would have to move; and plans to make the aircraft commercially available to foreign buyers would be quashed.

The report comes on the heels of the Pentagon's decision to mothball the line once the current order of 180 planes is delivered in 2008.continue..