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Boeing and Air Force officials, along with international dignitaries, celebrate the riveting of key parts in a C-17 plane that is the first of three to be shared by 12 nations. (Stephen Carr / Staff Photographer) LONG BEACH -- On the floor of the C-17 manufacturing plant Friday, Boeing Military Aircraft President Chris Chadwick noted the unique ownership of the aircraft behind him. "As all of our employees and suppliers will tell you, there's nothing more exciting than handing over the keys to a new C-17," Chadwick said, addressing military and international dignitaries and Boeing Co. employees. "Usually, we're turning...

A video about Travis AFB reservists flying a MedEvac mission from Travis to Rammstein to Bagrham and back. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1407952648/bctid1664436922

Elements of Boeing's proposed upgrade package for transforming the C-17A into a more suitable theatre transport could be added piecemeal rather than in a single, $2 billion development package, a company executive says. That detail could be a key factor for the "C-17B" concept to gain joint US Air Force and US Army approval, and, thus, to preserve the life of the production line far into the next decade. Boeing has identified eight major upgrades required to make the C-17B a true tactical airlifter. The package includes higher thrust engines and double-slotted flaps for "extreme" short-field landings adding a centre...

Boeing expects Qatar to announce “within a few days” an order for two C-17s plus two purchase options, in a deal that will mark the first sale of the military transport aircraft to a Middle Eastern customer. If Qatar confirms the purchase, it will receive its two firm aircraft in August 2009, says Boeing’s C-17 business development director Dan Page. The manufacturer has delivered 174 of the 190 aircraft ordered by the US Air Force, will hand over a sixth aircraft to the UK Royal Air Force this week, and has also delivered four aircraft each to Canada and Australia....

4/18/2008 - CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFPN) -- Five-year-old Benjamin Laury talked about elephants, storm troopers and how cool pilots are -- all in a single, convoluted sentence -- as he looked around a C-17 Globemaster III April 17 here. As part of a home-schooling group invited to check out the enormous airplane that just flew into their corner of the world, Benjamin and his friends are trying to make sense of what they're being told. Reserve and active-duty Airmen from the 446th and 62nd Airlift Wings hosted the children as they created analogies about their jobs and got a fair...

NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it would use its own money to carry on production of its C-17 military transport plane, despite a lack of firm new orders, in the expectation that Congress will ultimately fund further U.S. Air Force purchases of the plane. The future of Boeing's C-17, the workhorse airlifter for the U.S. armed forces, has been in doubt for some time as the Pentagon has refused to add funding for planes beyond the 190 it has on order, and international sales have been weak. Citing Congressional support...

A judge agreed Monday to postpone for 13 months the trial of a Chinese-American engineer charged with stealing military and aerospace trade secrets on behalf of China. Kenneth Miller, the attorney for 72-year-old Dongfan "Greg" Chung, asked for the delay because he is involved in a lengthy trial, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples. The trial was scheduled for April 8, but U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney agreed to delay it until May 5, 2009. The government alleges that Chung stole trade secrets on the space shuttle, C-17 military transport and the Delta IV rocket during his decades of employment...

EDWARDS AFB - When the first C-17 aircraft took to the air in September 1991, the airplane was expected to have the typically short life of a developmental vehicle, then retire to a museum or some similar fate. However, some 16 years and 1,000 flights later, the airplane known as T-1 continues to contribute to the success of the cargo aircraft program. "T-1 has really been an amazing test vehicle," said Lt. Col. Robert Poremski, director of the C-17 Integrated Test Team at Edwards Air Force Base, T-1's home since it first flew from The Boeing Co.'s manufacturing plant in...

Re-engining of the US Air Force's oldest Lockheed C-5 Galaxy strategic airlifters has been cancelled by the US Department of Defense after a steep increase in the project cost of the programme. The USAF's 62 C-5As will no longer be modernised under the reliability enhancement and re-engining programme (RERP), which replaces the TF39 engines with General Electric CF6-80C2s and upgrades other systems. Lockheed will still re-engine 47 newer C-5Bs and two C-5Cs operated for NASA. Including three that have already undergone avionics upgrades and re-engining to become C-5M test aircraft, this will give the USAF a total of 52 modernised...

Army News video: Exploring the C-17 CFB TRENTON, Ontario – Army News takes a tour of the new C-17.

EDWARDS AFB- A C-17 cargo plane has begun testing a blend of synthetic fuel made from natural gas, part of a Pentagon effort to reduce the American military's reliance on imported oil. The Global Reach Combined Test Force began testing a C-17 Globemaster III using a blend of synthetical fuel, made by the Fischer-Tropsch process, mixed with conventional JP-8 fuel, according to an Edwards Air Force Base announcement. It is part of the Air Force's plans to certify the C-17 with synthetic blended fuel and develop an overall process to certify all Air Force aircraft with synthetic fuel. "Our goal...

Army News video: Flying hospitals?TRENTON, Ontario – C-17 used in medical evacuations.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- An effort to provide U.S.-made military transport planes to NATO nations stalled Thursday as allied countries said they needed more time to review the plan. Representatives from France, Spain and Germany voiced objections to the proposal that would allow a consortium of 18 countries to buy three Boeing Co. C-17 Globemasters, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the debate during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. A second U.S. official said the objections center on whether the 18 countries would be solely responsible for any legal and financial responsibilities or if...

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Boeing Co. (BA) is preparing to extend production of C-17 cargo jets at its own financial risk, industry and U.S. government officials told Dow Jones Newswires. Boeing began to shut down its C-17 supply chain in March, saying it could not extend the line past 2009 without a new Pentagon commitment. The Defense Department's 2008 budget request did not include any of the big cargo jets, and Boeing said it was running out of work for its suppliers. But now the company is prepared to keep C-17 production going while Congress and the Air Force wrestle with...

OTTAWA (CP) - National Defence wants to jump the queue once again to get faster delivery of new Hercules tactical-lift aircraft and has formally asked the Pentagon if it can butt into line ahead of the U.S. military. Canada is hoping to start receiving the new model of the venerable C-130 by 2009, a full year ahead of the previously established schedule, according to a senior Defence official. The Pentagon is "favourable to the idea," said Dan Ross, the department's assistant deputy minister of material. An official decision by the Americans has yet to be made because Prime Minister Stephen...

Boeing claims it is closer than ever to launching the long-awaited BC-17 commercial derivative of its C-17 strategic transport, but says the growing gap in guaranteed production beyond delivery of the final contracted aircraft in 2009 makes this, and any further potential study derivatives, increasingly expensive to develop. “We have several customers with money that have given us requests for proposals,” says C-17 vice president and programme manager Dave Bowman, who adds: “I’ve never received RFPs before.” Although the company declines to identify the interested groups, Bowman says “this is the closest we’ve ever been to launching this programme, and...

Boeing will stop work on C-17 aircraft not under contract by Pentagon WASHINGTON (AP) - Boeing Co. on Friday said it will cease ordering parts for C-17 military cargo jets that are not under contract or firm commitments, a step that could mark the end of the aircraft's production altogether. The company said without further C-17 orders from the Pentagon or foreign buyers it expects to begin reducing the size of its work force as early as 2008, and complete the shut down of production facilities in Long Beach, California, and St. Louis by mid-2009. Boeing has notified 700...

THE second Ashes Test in Adelaide might not be going to plan but the chief of Australia's air force was keen to rub in victory of a different kind for Australia today. The Royal Australian Air Force today took ownership of its first C-17 Globemaster, a massive jet that is capable of moving equipment and troops in amounts never seen before. And Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd, was quick to mention the RAAF was one of the first forces in the world to bring the Globemaster into service. "We beat the Poms by some three months in...

The first of Australia's new fleet of four C-17 Globemaster III's was rolled out of the hangar this week in California, ahead of its initial flight later this month. In the slow-moving world of defence procurement, US aerospace giant Boeing is moving at lightning speed to deliver the big four-engine jet airlifter before the end of the year. The aerospace giant this week confirmed that it remained on track to deliver the first plane by November 28, less than seven months after Australia signed a letter of agreement with the US Government. "It's very exciting to see Australia's first C-17...

10/10/2006 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- Normally they move people, humanitarian supplies, troop rations and equipment, but Airmen with the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron's Detachment 1 here were tasked Oct. 7 to move different equipment -- several 30-foot, 100,000 pound Canadian tanks. The C-17 Globemaster III "Spirit of McChord" and its crew made two trips to Kandahar AB, Afghanistan, in one day to transport the equipment for Canadian ground forces supporting the NATO mission. Col. Michael McLean, Canadian Defense Attaché, said the Leopard tanks will support Canadian troops by providing greater mobility on the ground and more flexible...