Air Force buys five more Boeing C-17 large military cargo jets in $693.4 million deal
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio, 24 Jan. 2012. Aircraft manufacturers at the Boeing Co. Commercial Airplanes segment in Long Beach, Calif., will build five C-17 Globemaster III military cargo jets for the U.S. Air Force under terms of a $693.4 million contract modification announced Monday from the Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
The C-17 Globemaster III is a four-engine military transport able to carry troops and equipment to unimproved runways in forward military operating areas. The aircraft can carry as much as 164,900 pounds of cargo, land on runways as short as 3,000 feet, and can back up to operate on narrow taxiways and congested ramps.
The c-17's avionics suite has two full-time all-function head-up displays, four multi-function active-matrix liquid crystal displays, an integrated radio management system with communications system open architecture (COSA), and a quadruple-redundant electronic flight control with mechanical backup system.
The high-wing, T-tailed military-transport aircraft, can carry large equipment, supplies and troops directly to small airfields in harsh terrain anywhere in the world day or night, Boeing officials say. It has delivered cargo in every worldwide operation since the 1990s. Its ability to fly long distances and land in remote airfields in rough, land-locked regions make it a suitable transporter for military, humanitarian, and peacekeeping missions.
The C-17, which is 174 feet long with a 170-foot wingspan, can take off from a 7,600-foot airfield and has a range of 2,400 nautical miles. It is large enough to carry wheeled U.S. Army vehicles, including the M-1 Abrams main battle tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The four-engine C-17 is powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW2040 engine.
Boeing will build the five new C-17s at its factory in Long Beach, Calif. For more information contact Boeing online at www.boeing.com, or the Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center at www.wpafb.af.mil/asc.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
