Procurement of C-17 airlift aircraft began in FY1988, and a total of 223 have been procured through FY2010. The Administration's proposed FY2011 defense budget proposed to end C-17 procurement and did not request any funding for the procurement of additional C-17s. Further, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in testimony to the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, stated, "Should Congress add funds to continue this program, I will strongly recommend a presidential veto." The Administration argues that enough C-17s have now been procured to meet future operational needs. Supporters of procuring additional C-17s in FY2011 believe additional C-17s will be needed to meet future operational needs. The issue of how much airlift capability will be needed in the future is currently being examined in a congressionally mandated study being done by the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) and in a separate Department of Defense (DOD) study called the Mobility Capabilities and Requirements Study 2016 (MCRS-16), which was due to be completed by the end of 2009. The primary issue for Congress in FY2011 is whether to procure additional C-17s. An additional issue is whether to pass legislation relating to the airlift aircraft force structure. Congress's decisions on these issues could affect DOD capabilities and funding requirements and the U.S. military aircraft industrial base. The Air Force C-17, also known as the Globemaster III or simply the Globemaster, can transport equipment, supplies, and personnel over long distances, from one theater of operations to another, and can also land on more austere airfields with shorter runways. The C-17 complements the Air Force's larger and older C-5 Galaxy airlift aircraft in the strategic (i.e., inter-theater) airlift role, and smaller C-130 Hercules airlift aircraft in the tactical (i.e., intra-theater) airlift role. The C-5 and the C-17 can carry outsized (i.e., large-dimension) cargo items, such as M-1 tanks. The C-5 can carry more cargo than the C-17 and has a longer unrefueled range than the C-17. Certain DOD cargo items, such as the Army's 74-ton mobile scissors bridge, are so large that they can be carried only by a C-5. The C-17, however, can deploy cargo and personnel directly into more austere airfields with shorter runways. The C-17 also costs less to operate per flight hour than the C-5 and has a higher mission capable rate (MCR), which is a measure of aircraft reliability. Table 1 , adapted from a November 2009 GAO report, compares some characteristics of the C-17 and C-5. The C-17 program began in the early 1980s. Procurement of C-17s began in FY1988. The first C-17 was delivered to the Air Force in June 1993. The C-17 achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC), with the delivery of 12 aircraft to a C-17 squadron, in January 1995. A full-rate production contract was awarded in February 1996. The C-17 program experienced development challenges and cost growth in its earlier years that were the subject of congressional oversight at the time. Table 2 shows annual C-17 procurement quantities, along with changes over time in the planned total number of C-17s to be procured. C-17s were procured under overlapping multiyear procurement (MYP) arrangements in FY1997-FY2003 and FY2003-FY2007. The prime contractor for the C-17 is Boeing Airlift and Tankers of Long Beach, CA. C-17s are the only aircraft made at Boeing's Long Beach production plant. A May 2009 press report states that the C-17 program, including supplier firms, employs a total of about 30,000 people in 43 states. As of July 2009, 190 C-17s had been delivered to the Air Force. The 213 th C-17 is scheduled to be delivered to the Air Force in March 2011. As the final C-17 moves down the production line, the parts of the production line behind that aircraft will begin to shut down. Thus, if C-17 procurement ends at 213 aircraft, parts of the C-17 production line will begin to shut down prior to March 2011. Suppliers who provide materials or make long leadtime items for the C-17 would be among the first parts of the line to shut down. The C-17 is available to countries other than the United States. The United Kingdom (6 aircraft), Canada (4), Australia (6), Qatar (2), and a 10-nation NATO consortium (3 aircraft) have acquired C-17s to date, and the UK is reportedly interested in a seventh. As of November 17, 2009, India was reportedly in negotiations to buy 10 C-17s. Consistent with the Administration's proposal to end C-17 procurement, the proposed FY2011 defense budget did not request funding for the procurement of additional C-17s, and instead requested $153.3 million to shut down the C-17 production line. The budget also requested $14.3 million in procurement funding for the C-17 program, but the requested funding is for C-17 funds the acquisition of required C-17 support equipment, spares, data, material improvement projects, training equipment, obsolescence, and mission support. The Air Force currently operates 111 C-5s, including C-5As procured between 1969 and 1974, and C-5Bs and Cs procured in the 1980s. Decisions on how many C-17s to procure can be affected by decisions on how many C-5s are retained in the strategic airlift fleet, and by decisions on efforts to modernize C-5s. The Air Force is implementing a two-phase program for modernizing its fleet of 111 C-5s. The modernization effort is intended to improve C-5 operational capability, flight safety, reliability, and maintainability. The prime contractor for both phases of the modernization effort is Lockheed Martin of Marietta, GA. The first phase of the modernization effort, the C-5 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP), began in 1999. The first flight of an AMP-modified C-5 occurred in December 2002. Operational test and evaluation of AMP began in September 2005 and was completed in July 2006. AMP-modified C-5s achieved initial operational capability (IOC) in February 2007. As of July 2009, 55 C-5s had received the AMP modifications. The Administration's FY2011 budget submission changed the quantity of C-5s to receive the AMP modifications from 110 to 88. Modernization of the 88 is scheduled for completion in 2012. The second phase of the C-5 modernization effort, the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP), began in 2000. The RERP phase includes the installation of new engines and the modification of more than 70 electrical, fuel, and other subsystems. C-5s that receive RERP modification do so after receiving AMP modification, and are redesignated C-5Ms. Three C-5s received RERP during the RERP program's system development and demonstration (SDD) phase; the first production aircraft to receive RERP was scheduled to enter modification in August 2009. The RERP phase was originally intended for all 111 C-5s, like the AMP phase, but cost growth in 2007 that was sufficient to trigger a Nunn-McCurdy breach led to a DOD restructuring of the RERP phase in 2008 that limited RERP modifications to 52 C-5s. The first flight of a RERP-modified C-5 occurred in June 2006. Test and evaluation of RERP-modified C-5s began in June 2006 and, as of June 2008, was scheduled to be completed in April 2010. Initial operational capability of RERP-modified C-5s is scheduled for June 2013. The Air Force testified in May 2009 that: All C-5B/Cs have entered or completed AMP modification and the first C-5A completed modification on 16 Feb 2009…. Currently, the C-5 AMP effort continues at two modification centers at Dover AFB, Delaware and Travis AFB, California and will modify all 111 C-5 aircraft by 2015. The Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) builds upon the C-5 AMP modification. C-5 RERP replaces the propulsion system and improves the reliability of over 70 systems and components…. The production program is delivering on cost and on schedule. These efforts will fully modernize 52 C-5s that meet the warfighters' requirements. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in November 2008 that: The Air Force has cut the number of C-5s it plans to fully modernize by more than half because of substantial cost increases in the modernization effort.... All 111 C-5s will receive the avionics upgrade, while only 52 will receive the reliability enhancement and reengining upgrade. This mix may change again, based on the results of DOD's new mobility capabilities studies, possible C-5 retirements, and a revised cost estimate for C-5 modernization.... The costs to modernize C-5 aircraft have not been fully identified and are likely to increase. While the Air Force now estimates it will spend $9.1 billion to modernize C-5s, the costs may be underestimated because DOD did not apply risk or uncertainty analysis to its reliability enhancement and reengining program major cost drivers.