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Report: JCAs cut from Army budget

The Joint Cargo Aircraft is no longer joint.

Army funding for the C-27 Spartan — the small tactical airlifter intended for both the Army and the Air Force — has been stripped from the budget, a defense official familiar with the decision said Monday.

The Air Force will retain its 38 planes under the revised plan, but the Army, which wanted 40 C-27s to replace its aging C-23 Sherpas, will receive none.

The 40 Army planes were to be assigned to the Army National Guard, many to districts at risk of losing their Guard missions due to base closures in 2005.

The cutting of the Army program, first reported in The Hill newspaper, likely would create a political firestorm for the states slated to receive the planes.

Guard leaders have talked up the Spartan as a panacea to airlift problems in Afghanistan. The Army relies heavily on aging CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to ferry troops. Guard leaders have said the Spartans would be able to carry more gear faster onto forward areas and austere runways, easing the wear and tear on the Chinooks.