United Kingdom Selects Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
LONG BEACH, Calif., May 16, 2000 -- The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense today announced its intention to lease four Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft for the Royal Air Force beginning in 2001.
Maintenance support and aircrew training initially will be handled by the U.S. Air Force and The Boeing Company.
The C-17 is a jet-powered cargo airplane capable of carrying up to 169,000 pounds (76,395 kg) intercontinental distances, yet can land on small austere fields as short as 3,000 feet (1,000 meters). It operates with a three-person crew and is capable of airdrop operations and aeromedical evacuation.
The C-17 is refuelable in flight, but the aircraft for the Royal Air Force will have a new extended-range fuel tank in the center wing area previously left dry. That tank, which can hold up to 10,000 gallons (56,000 pounds), will add about 15 percent to the average mission unrefueled range. U.S. Air Force C-17s also will have this new tank.
The U.S. Air Force currently has 120 C-17s on order, with 60 already delivered. The C-17 fleet, home based at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., and McChord Air Force Base, Wash., has more than 200,000 flight hours since first flight in 1991.
The C-17 is assembled in Long Beach, Calif., but parts come from more than 800 suppliers around the world, including nine in the U.K.
Deliveries to the U.S. Air Force will not be affected by the U.K. aircraft. Boeing has delivered 48 C-17s in a row ahead of schedule.
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Contact Info:
George Sillia
(562) 593-5233
Larry Whitley
London 44 207 930-5000
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