Introduction
This analysis defines the market for military transports
to include aircraft that perform one or more military air
transportation missions such as personnel transport,
long-range strategic airlift, and short-range tactical
transport, as well as short-haul utility runs. With the
exception of a few models included in the light/utility
transport segment, this analysis covers only aircraft that
are designed to serve as military transports and have
excluded aircraft designed for the civilian market such
as commercial airliners, regional jets, or business jets,
all of which typically are only lightly modified when
entering military service.
For example, Boeing's C-17 Globemaster III was
developed from McDonnell Douglas' high-winged Y-15
entrant in the U.S. Air Force's 1970s-era Advanced
Medium STOL Transport (AMST) competition and has
no civilian analogue. It is a true military transport. But
there are other aircraft used to transport military freight
and passengers that are not true military aircraft. The
Boeing C-40 Clipper, for example, is based on the
Boeing 737-700. It is produced on the same production
line as other 737s by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in
Renton, Washington. The aircraft is modified slightly
before entering military service, but completion of the
C-40 at the company's Integrated Defense Systems
facility in Wichita, Kansas, primarily involves
installation of an FAA-certificated kit to provide a
"combi" configuration capable of rapidly switching
between passenger service and cargo hauling. The C-40
is little more than a civilian airliner in U.S. military
livery, and for that reason we exclude it from our
analysis of the market for military transports. Likewise,
we have excluded any transports reconfigured for
various special-purpose military missions that do not
involve moving troops or cargo, and aerial refueling
aircraft converted from civil airliners that also have a
supplementary cargo-carrying capability.
The aircraft covered in this analysis have been divided
into three classes based solely on gross takeoff weight
(GTOW). Heavy transports include any aircraft above
80,000 pounds GTOW used primarily for military
transport purposes. Medium transports encompass the
same basic mission description as the heavy transports
but operate in a range between 20,000 and 80,000
pounds GTOW. Light transports are defined as those
aircraft weighing less than 20,000 pounds GTOW.
Military transport aircraft tend to be built to fill
demanding performance requirements that converted
civilian airliners cannot meet. Unlike airliners, they are
also specially designed to be operated in combat zones
in which ground fire and surface-to-air missiles
represent a threat. However, the design differences
between military transport aircraft and their civilian
counterparts are less significant for light transports than
for aircraft on the heavier side. We have therefore
included military production of several primarily
civilian models in the light transport class in this
analysis.
This analysis covers market trends and the competitive
environment in the decade ahead based on a review of
the market for the following aircraft
Heavy Transports
Airbus A400M
Antonov An-70
Boeing C-17A
Embraer KC-390
Kawasaki C-X
Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules
Medium Transports
Alenia Aeronautica C-27J
EADS CASA C-295
EADS CASA/IPTN CN-235M
Xi'an MA60/MA600
Light/Utility Transports
EADS CASA C-212
Harbin Y-12
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd 228-200/-20
PT. Dirgantara Indonesia NC-212-200
PZL M28 Skytruck
