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“Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft including both C-17 Globemaster’s (heavy transport aircraft) and C-130 Hercules are on standby to fly north to cyclone-affected areas and the Australian army based in Townsville is preparing Blackhawk and Chinook aircraft to assist in emergency operations,” an ADF member (Australian Defence Force) said yesterday. On Wednesday ADF helicopters, eight Blackhawk’s, three Chinooks and three NH90s had flown from Townsville to Mackay Airport due to Tropical Cyclone Yasi emergency, but the aircraft soon came back to Townsville yesterday to go and assist in disaster recovery operations in North Queensland. “There are approximately 4000 defence...

It was 0'dark-thirty and only the blue line of runway lights met the joint Air Force and Navy crew under the wings of a C-17 Globemaster III. A 535th Airlift Squadron aircrew from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and the U.S. Navy Special Warfare Unit One from Guam teamed up to drop a boat out of the back of a C-17 using the Maritime Craft Aerial Delivery System recently. With more than 19,000 pounds locked in, and parachute riggings in place, the joint team strapped in was ready to go. The weather was ideal, the sea state was low and...

Three C-17 Globemaster IIIs carrying 120 bundles dropped the largest resupply of fuel ever to a remote military outpost in Afghanistan. Throughout the span of two days, Jan. 29 through 30, Soldiers hustled to collect the pallets, store them and then prepare for the next C-17 pass. "When these drops come in, our Soldiers immediately move into action to collect the bundles," said Lt. Col. Davis Preston, the Support Battalion for Task Force Currahee. "Speed is important. The less time our guys are outside (the fence line), the better. Today, we're breaking down the bundles in record time. Everyone hustles...

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Dwindling domestic demand for C-17 cargo planes will force Boeing Co. to slash 1,100 jobs at its U.S. plants, most of them in Long Beach where the aerospace giant has cut 13,000 jobs since the 1990s, the company said Thursday. The 900 jobs in Long Beach and 200 jobs at plants in Mesa, Ariz., Macon, Ga., and St. Louis will be cut by the end of next year. The cuts include accountants, midlevel management, engineering, research and assembly line workers. Affected workers will receive 60-day notices beginning Friday, with layoffs staggered monthly through 2012. Boeing said...

The sprawling factory, barring an unlikely rise in demand, is expected to shut down completely by the end of next year. Time is running out at Southern California's last major conventional aircraft factory. Citing declining orders for its C-17 cargo planes, Boeing Co. said it was cutting 900 of the 3,700 jobs at its sprawling Long Beach plant. Barring congressional intervention or a spate of foreign orders — which analysts say is unlikely — the factory is expected to shut down completely by the end of next year. "There's just not that much of a market for this aircraft," said...

Time is running out at Southern California's last major conventional aircraft factory. Citing declining orders for its C-17 cargo planes, Boeing Co. said it was cutting 900 of the 3,700 jobs at its sprawling Long Beach plant. Barring congressional intervention or a spate of foreign orders — which analysts say is unlikely — the factory is expected to shut down completely by the end of next year

Training devices for the U.S. Air Force's C-17 aircrews will be delivered by Boeing to three service sites in 2012 and 2013. Boeing said the first set of devices is an Integrated Training Center to be delivered to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in the first quarter of 2012. The ITC will consist of a weapon systems trainer, pilot and co-pilot station, loadmaster station and related courseware and support equipment. A second weapon systems trainer will be installed at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., in the third quarter of 2012 and a third ITC will go to a new C-17...

Globemaster III tops mark in Afghan airdrop. This early C-17, built by McDonnell Douglas in the pre-Boeing days, takes off from the Barstow-Daggett Airfield as part of a 30-day Air Force evaluation of the military cargo planes. A Globemaster III topped the 2,000,000 flying hour mark in Afghanistan. (Steven Georges / Press-Telegram) LONG BEACH — The worldwide fleet of C-17 Globemaster III airlifters built by The Boeing Company surpassed 2 million flying hours during an airdrop mission over Afghanistan on Dec. 10. Reaching 2 million flight hours equates to 1.13 billion nautical miles -- the equivalent of a C-17 flying...

The worldwide fleet of C-17 Globemaster III airlifters built by The Boeing Company surpassed 2 million flying hours during an airdrop mission over Afghanistan on Dec. 10. Reaching 2 million flight hours equates to 1.13 billion nautical miles – the equivalent of a C-17 flying to the moon and back 2,360 times. The representative mission, flown by a U.S. Air Force C-17, airdropped 74,000 pounds of jet fuel in support of U.S. and coalition troops just south of Kabul. The C-17 has a mission readiness rate of more than 85 percent. It is the world's only strategic airlifter with tactical...

Pilot error is the US Air Force's official cause for the first fatal crash of a Boeing C-17, but the service's investigation report has also exposed lax oversight of an over-aggressive flier who was allowed to repeatedly perform an unsafe airshow routine. The crash report - released by the Pacific Air Forces Command on 13 December - also echoes the findings of a 16-year-old Boeing B-52 crash that ranks as one of the darkest chapters in USAF history and sparked a movement to reform the service's management and safety culture. Aviation safety experts have already seized on the new report...

A pilot's overly aggressive aerial acrobatics and overconfidence were blamed in an investigative report for a C-17 plane crash at an Anchorage military base that killed all four airmen on board. Besides pilot error, the crew on board was also faulted for failing to notice the dangerous situation that culminated with the plane stalling and crashing into woods July 28 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

Letter of Request (LOR) has been issued to the Government of United States of America for procurement of C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft for Indian Air Force (IAF) from United States of America, through Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route. In response, Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) has been received, which is being progressed. A technology scan was carried out as per the Defence Procurement Procedure 2008 which brought out that the C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft best meets the operational requirements of a Very Heavy Transport Aircraft (VHETAC) class for the Indian Air Force.

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] delivered the United Kingdom’s seventh C-17 Globemaster III to the Royal Air Force (RAF) today during a ceremony at Boeing’s final assembly facility in Long Beach. "The addition of a seventh C-17 to our fleet is a significant milestone that strengthens our support of operations worldwide, especially in Afghanistan," said Peter Luff, UK Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology. "And next year, in May, we’ll mark the 10th anniversary of the delivery of the RAF's first C-17, which continues to perform superbly -- anytime and anywhere." The United Kingdom's fleet of C-17s has logged...

WASHINGTON — A US military cargo plane crashed during a training mission at the Elmendorf base in Alaska, killing all four crew members aboard, an Air Force spokesman said Thursday. The plane, a C-17 cargo aircraft, reportedly crashed into a wooded area about two miles away from the runway from which it took off. A statement from the Elmendorf base in Anchorage said four crewmembers assigned to the base's 3rd Wing were on board at the time of the crash at 6:14 pm local time (0215 GMT). "Yesterday, we lost four members of our Arctic Warrior family and it's a...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A plane has crashed near Elmendorf Air Force Base. Witnesses say they saw a C-17 aircraft go down, but this has not yet been confirmed by the Air Force. A large cloud of smoke was visible spewing above the base. Witnesses said the smoke and flames were coming from an area near the Elmendorf runway, perhaps a couple of miles into the woods. Initial indications had at least four people on board.

India could buy 10 to 12 more C-17 transport planes from Boeing Co beyond the 10 planes already planned, Christopher Chadwick, president of Boeing military aircraft told Reuters on Monday. Boeing, the No. 2 U.S. defense contractor, is forecasting strong demand for the C-17 planes, which have been used heavily during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Chadwick said at the Farnborough Airshow outside London. Boeing had seen interest from multiple buyers in the Middle East and the Asian-Pacific region, and NATO countries could also buy more of the cargo planes in coming years, Chadwick said in an interview. On Sunday,...

The military has more than enough large transport planes, and the appropriation of any more in the next budget year will force some into premature retirement, Defense Department officials told a congressional panel today. “We have enough C-17s,” Mike McCord, principal deputy undersecretary of defense (comptroller), said. “Money spent on things we don’t need takes away from those we do need.” Along with McCord, Air Force Maj. Gen. Susan Y. Desjardins, director of strategic plans for Air Mobility Command, and Alan Estevez, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for logistical and materiel readiness, repeated Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ position...

India and the United States have begun talks here on the price and onboard equipment for the 10 Boeing C- 17 military transport aircraft that the Indian Air Force (IAF) wants.The validation trials of the aircraft were complete and that one United States Air Force (USAF) C-17 which had come to India in this regard last month had met the IAF specifications. The aircraft was tested in short and high altitude runways. As India is buying the aircraft from the US government under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme, the US Department of Defense (DOD) and USAF are leading the...

As Congress begins consideration of the FY 2011 Defense Appropriations bill, the US Project On Government Oversight (POGO) hopes that they will support the Pentagon and President by passing such waste-reduction initiatives as an amendment to strip funding for unneeded C-17 cargo planes. The Pentagon has repeatedly stated that they have no use for new C-17 aircraft, and that their current fleet is substantial and sufficient. This claim is confirmed by the Pentagon's most recent completed analysis for air transport needs, the 2005 Mobility Capability Study, which stated that 180 C-17s are all that are necessary within an acceptable measure...

The Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster cargo jet once had a comfortable ride as a project the Defense Department rarely requested but Congress continued to fund — an arrangement that allowed the military, lawmakers and lobbyists to share in the largesse year after year. But the terrain appears much rockier for the Boeing-made plane in fiscal year 2011, as Congress looks for ways to trim the deficit and, more important, Defense Secretary Robert Gates digs in hard against the plane, securing a veto threat against funding for it from President Barack Obama. “He’s made this a manhood issue,” a defense industry...