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C-17 Globemaster III
An Unequalled Tactical Edge
By Vivek Lall Published :February 2010
Washington. In January, when the U.S. government received a Letter of Request from India’s Ministry of Defence and the Indian Air Force regarding the potential acquisition of 10 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters, India joined a growing number of countries seriously considering the advanced airlifter as the solution to their requirements.
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.
© India Strategic
http://indiastrategic.in/topstories489.htm
An Unequalled Tactical Edge
By Vivek Lall Published :February 2010
Washington. In January, when the U.S. government received a Letter of Request from India’s Ministry of Defence and the Indian Air Force regarding the potential acquisition of 10 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters, India joined a growing number of countries seriously considering the advanced airlifter as the solution to their requirements.
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.
© India Strategic
http://indiastrategic.in/topstories489.htm