Overview
C-17 latest developments
July 1 -- Boeing delivered the U.S. Air Force's 174th C-17 during ceremonies at the company’s Long Beach, Calif. assembly facility. Assigned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, it is the ninth of 13 C-17s scheduled to be delivered to Dover.
June 30 -- President Bush signed a fiscal year 2008 supplemental defense spending bill that includes $3.6 billion in funding for an additional 15 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters. The $165 billion bill extends the C-17 production line through August, 2010.
June 11 -- Boeing delivered the UK's sixth C-17 during a ceremony at the company's Long Beach, Calif., C-17 manufacturing facility. The delivery completes the RAF's initial order.
May 22 -- Boeing delivered its 173rd C-17 to the United States Air Force. The aircraft is assigned to the 512th Airlift Wing at Dover AFB, Delaware.
May 13-14 -- C-17s from the Royal Australian Air Force and Canadian Forces delivered more than 70 tons of emergency aid to Myanmar to support the millions of victims of Cyclone Nargis.
May 9 -- The Pentagon notified Congress of a pending foreign military sale of two C-17s to the NATO alliance's Strategic Airlift Capability Consortium.
The C-17 Globemaster III
A high-wing, 4-engine, T-tailed military-transport aircraft, the multi-service C-17 can carry large equipment, supplies and troops directly to small airfields in harsh terrain anywhere in the world day or night. The massive, sturdy, long-haul aircraft tackles distance, destination and heavy, oversized payloads in unpredictable conditions. It has delivered cargo in every worldwide operation since the 1990s.
Capabilities and Functionality
The C-17's ability to fly long distances and land in remote airfields in rough, land-locked regions make it a premier transporter for military, humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. It can:
- Take off from a 7,600-ft. airfield, carry a payload of 160,000 pounds, fly 2,400 nautical miles, refuel while in flight and land in 3,000 ft. or less on a small unpaved or paved airfield in day or night.
- Carry a cargo of wheeled U.S. Army vehicles in two side-by-side rows, including the U.S. Army's main battle tank, the M-1. Three Bradley infantry-fighting vehicles comprise one load.
- Drop a single 60,000-lb. payload, with sequential load drops of 110,000 lb.
- Back up a two-percent slope.
- Seat 54 on the sidewall and 48 in the centerline.
Additional Information
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