Pentagon approves plan to purchase MD jets

17 Jun 2002

(Reuter) The Defense Department Friday announced approval of a final plan to buy 80 additional McDonnell Douglas Corp. C-17 military cargo jets for $16.6 billion. The Pentagon is already in the process of buying 40 of the big planes and Defense Undersecretary Paul Kaminski told a news conference he had signed a memorandum Thursday to buy an additional 80 over the next seven years. The Pentagon said in November it planned to buy the 80 C-17s, designed to carry tanks and troops to the battlefield by landing on short dirt runways, at a cost of $18 billion.

Kaminski said buying the additional planes over an accelerated period of seven years beginning this year would bring the cost down to $16.6 billion.

``Yesterday, I signed the ADM (acquisition decision memorandum) approving a multi-year program -- which will occur over seven years -- for what will lead to a total buy of 120 C-17s,'' Kaminski said. ``The total value is $16.6 billion.''