Although it is 20 years since its first order was funded, the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III is the newest strategic airlifter in United States service. An extremely shaky start - caused by development problems and cost over runs by the then manufacturer McDonnell Douglas - threatened to see the entire programme abandoned. One of the major concerns was the excessive cost of components from certain sub-contractors. However, a rigorous overhaul of the entire programme ordered by the US General Accounting Office (renamed the Government Accountability Office in July 2004) slashed costs dramatically, with the unit price tag dropping from more than $300 million to under $200 million. A merger with Boeing was undertaken in 1997, by which time the majority of problems had been rectified.
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