Contracts have
been signed for the RAF’s seventh C17 aircraft the MoD announced
today. The new strategic transport aircraft will add to a fleet
that has seen heavy usage during recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Boeing C17 Globemaster can operate in both strategic and
tactical roles, combining trans-continental range with the ability
to operate from short runways under basic conditions.
The C17’s huge capacity enables carriage of loads such as a
Chinook helicopter or thirteen Land Rovers, or mixed freight loads
of up to 160,000 lbs. The new C17 aircraft will join the rest of
the fleet at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire when it enters
service with the RAF in March 2011 after it has been fitted with
self-protection measures.
This additional C17 is part of the £900M package of enhancements
for operations over the next three years announced by the Defence
Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, last week.
Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, said:
“Afghanistan remains our top priority and this extra C17
represents a major contribution to the strategic airlift directly
supporting our troops in Afghanistan. Since its entry into service
in 2001, the UK’s C17 fleet has provided outstanding performance
in RAF service in support of operations, humanitarian relief and
routine tasks. The additional aircraft will allow our strategic
transport capacity to be expanded during a period of intensive
coalition operations.”
Officer Commanding 99 Squadron, Wing Commander Simon Edwards, said:
“The operational record of the C17 is unsurpassed. The current
fleet of six aircraft deliver an incredible capability to our
deployed forces and the announcement of a seventh aircraft will
mean a great deal not only to the RAF but to the soldiers on the
front line. There is no better way – and often no other way – to
get vital equipment such as helicopters and large vehicles, such
as Mastiff, where they are needed and when they are needed.”
Managing Director Boeing Defence UK, Mike Kurth, said:
"We're committed to supporting the
UK's capability to provide an airbridge to the
frontline.”
Six RAF C17s are operated by 99 Squadron from their base at
RAF Brize Norton on Oxfordshire. Since the first aircraft was
delivered in 2001, the RAF C17 fleet has flown well over 50,000
hours, largely in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,
but also including humanitarian relief work in South-East Asia and Pakistan.
Notes for Editors:
1. The C-17A Globemaster is long range,
heavy logistic transport aircraft. Its design characteristics give
it the capability to operate into and out of short runways and
basic airfields carrying large and outsized payloads.
2. It can carry a number of different equipment types. For
instance it can carry a Chinook helicopter or three Apache
helicopters or three Warrior vehicles or 13 Land-Rovers or even a
Tornado F3 fighter. As an example it can transport 100,000lbs of
freight over 4,500 nautical miles, flying above 30,000 feet.
3. C-17 aircraft have been deployed to provide aid to those
suffering from the South East Asia Tsunami and the Pakistan
earthquake. It was also used to deliver the rescue submersible to
aid a stricken Russian submarine AS-28 close to the Kamchatka Peninsular.
4. The aircraft has an integrated electronic flight-deck,
allowing operation by a basic crew of two pilots and one loadmaster.
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For further information please contact:
Sqn Ldr Al Green, MOD Press Office, 020 7218 1534 al.green633@mod.uk
Madonna Walsh, Boeing UK, 020 7340 1900 madonna.a.walsh@boeing.com
Contacts:
Ministry of Defence
NDS.MOD@coi.gsi.gov.uk