Military services competing for future airlift missions.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: UPFRONT

A multibillion-dollar program to equip the Army National Guard with new fixed-wing cargo aircraft fleet has rekindled a turf battle between the services that was supposed to have been settled more than half a century ago.

At issue is the Army's "future cargo aircraft" that will replace the aging fleet of C-23 Sherpas. Although the Army so far has committed to buying 33, it could eventually acquire as many as 120. Competing for the award are Global Military Aircraft Systems, with the C-27J Spartan, and the Raytheon Company, which is proposing the CASA C-295 aircraft.

A procurement this large has raised eyebrows in the U.S. Air Force, which was put in charge of airlift operations under a 1948 agreement, known as "Functions of the Armed Forces and the Joint Chiefs of Staff"--also informally dubbed the "Key West Agreement" because it was signed in Key West, Fla., at a military summit convened to settle service differences over roles and missions left unclear by the National Security Act of 1947.

The Army, nonetheless, has made a strong case for operating its own airlift fleet. The Sherpas not only are aging, but they also are too small and must fly at low altitudes because they lack pressurized cabins, which makes them vulnerable to surface-to-air missiles, Army officials said. Throughout the Iraq war, the Sherpa has served as a primary transport of cargo and passengers, which bolsters the Army's claim that it needs its own light cargo planes.

The Air Force, for its part, has hinted for years that it wants to buy a light cargo aircraft, to supplement the C-17 and C-5 heavy lift, and the C-130 medium lift transports. But the service has not yet funded the program.

Last month, Gen. Michael Moseley, chief of staff of the Air Force, told the annual convention of the Air Force Association that the service intends to procure a light cargo aircraft.

Operations in Afghanistan and Iraq proved that there is "some utility" in having an aircraft that can take off and land in a 2,000 to 2,500 foot runway, can carry two pallets and 25 to 30 people, said Moseley. "Something like that would be useful in the Gulf Coast" for hurricane relief operations, he added.

Gen. Ronald Keys, commander of the Air Combat Command, hinted that the ideal solution would be a "two-engine version of the C-130." Whether that comment implied an endorsement of the C-27J is not clear, and Air Force officials have stressed that no buying decisions are likely to be made any time soon.

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