Colorado, Florida come to Embraer’s defense  Colorado, Florida
come to Embraer’s defense  Beechcraft has turned to its state
lawmakers in a last ditch effort to wrest a $427 million
contract away from Embraer and Sierra Nevada to build light air
support aircraft for Afghanistan’s infantile air force.  As is
often the crux of most of these disputes, the debate has turned
to jobs. The Kansas senators and
Congressional representatives that have come to Beecraft’s aid
have spent less time arguing that Beechcraft makes a better
plane and more time arguing about where the 1,400 jobs
associated with the program will land.  “When it comes to
producing aircraft that will help Americans come home from
Afghanistan, the U.S. Air Force today concluded that America’s
‘best interest’ now rests on the shoulders of Brazil,”
Beechcraft said in a statement in February.  The U.S. is funding
the program to build 20 light air support aircraft for the
Afghan air force. The U.S. Air Force is overseeing the program.
Service officials