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 We
believe the C-17 can fulfill India’s needs for
military and humanitarian airlift to help it meet
its growing domestic and international responsibilities,
and continue to see strong interest in C-17s across
the global market.
When 2009 came to a close, a record 14 nations
had selected Boeing’s C-17, the workhorse of the
U.S. Air Force since 1993, as their airlifter
of choice. The newest members of the C-17 family
include the United Arab Emirates Air Force and
Air Defence, the Qatar Emiri Air Force, and the
12-nation Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) initiative
led by NATO.
The SAC group includes 10 NATO nations – Bulgaria,
Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, United States
– and Partnership for Peace members Sweden and
Finland. The 12 countries share acquisition and
operating costs for a fleet of three C-17s over
a nearly 30-year agreement. SAC’s approach to
shared use of the strategic airlifter is now regarded
as a model for the pooled acquisition and management
of defense capabilities.
Other long-time international customers include
Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, which
ordered a seventh C-17 in December.
“Nations looking to modernize their airlift capabilities
turn to the C-17 because of the industryleading
quality and reliability that all C-17 customers
enjoy, coupled with exceptional performance and
durability,” points out Tommy Dunehew, Boeing
vice president, Business Development, Global Mobility
Systems. “It provides worldclass and worldwide
strategic airlift capability and the means to
rapidly, reliably and flexibly move heavy equipment
over vast distances.”
Both a tactical and strategic airlifter, only
the C-17 can carry large combat equipment and
troops or humanitarian aid over long distances
and deliver them directly to small, austere airfields
anywhere in the world. It can land combat-ready
troops on semi-prepared runways or airdrop them
directly into the fight. Its ability to back up
allows it to operate on narrow taxiways and on
congested ramps.
The C-17 is the only platform available that
can support a large military or humanitarian operation
on unimproved landing strips in a timely manner.
The C-5 Galaxy is unable to operate on makeshift
runways; the C-130, a four-engine turboprop, can’t
meet crucial time constraints; and the A400M lacks
short-field takeoff capability.
Equipped with an externally blown flap system
that allows a steep, final approach and low-speed
landings for routine short-field landings, the
C-17 can take off and land on runways as short
as 3,500 feet and only 90 feet wide and can take
off from a 7,600-foot airfield with a full cargo
load. Even on such narrow runways, the C-17 can
turn around using a three-point star turn and
its backing capability.
The C-17 is the only tactical aircraft capable
of performing all airlift missions, including
strategic, tactical, military, and humanitarian
missions, as well as brigade airdrops, aeromedical
evacuations, and landings and takeoffs from standard
runways or austere airfields.
Reliability and maintainability are two key benefits
of the C-17 system, known for an aircraft mission
completion success probability rate of 95 percent.
Maximum payload capacity of the C-17 is 170,900
pounds, and its maximum gross takeoff weight is
585,000 pounds. With its full payload and an initial
cruise altitude of 28,000 feet, the C-17 has an
unrefueled range of approximately 2,400 nautical
miles.
The C-17 is also designed to airdrop 102 paratroopers
and equipment.
A key feature of the C-17 is that it’s operated
by a crew of three – pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster
– reducing personnel requirements, risk exposure
and long-term operating costs. Cargo is loaded
onto the C-17 through a large aft door that accommodates
military vehicles and palletized cargo. The C-17
can carry Army wheeled vehicles in two side-by-side
rows in its cargo compartment.
Significant modifications have been made since
the C-17 was first rolled out, from an extended
range fuel tank and upgraded software to improvements
to the Aerial Delivery System and communications
architecture.
Defensive Systems, an Electronic Flight Control
System and a Formation Flight System have also
been added. The support infrastructure for the
C-17 is in operation worldwide, and participation
in the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership
provides for significant cost savings.
Today, the C-17 supports U.S. troops as they
fight terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq and respond
to humanitarian disasters around the world. In
January, C-17s from the United States, Qatar,
Canada and SAC supported relief efforts in earthquake-ravaged
Haiti. In October 2009, C-17s with the Hawaii
Air National Guard and the U.S. Air Force completed
a 10-day mission during which they ferried humanitarian
aid to victims of the tsunami and earthquake that
struck American Samoa on Sept. 29.
That same month, C-17s completed multiple humanitarian
airlift missions to Padang, Indonesia, where nearly
800 people had been killed in another earthquake.
The C-17 is often the first to respond to international
humanitarian disasters, delivering, in one mission,
critical supplies, personnel, and a 100-bed, fully
equipped field hospital with patient litters,
oxygen, and support equipment.
The C-17 is an acquisition success story, with
deliveries on or ahead of schedule for the past
decade. And it is available right now, without
any development risk, whether a country wants
10 or 20, or more.
The author is Vice president
and India country head, Boeing Defense, Space
& Security.
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