C-17 Globemaster III

Modern armies cannot do without quality transport aircraft with large cargo capacity, adequate range, and operational reliability. The American four-engine transport aircraft C-17 Globemaster III is among the most modern types. The origins of this plane date back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the U.S. Air Force announced preliminary specifications for a new transport aircraft tentatively designated the C-X. After reviewing the submitted designs, the McDonnell Douglas-designed type was selected for further development. The prototype, already designated the C-17, was flown in September 1991, and two years later, the type was designated as Globemaster III and entered in service.

The C-17 Globemaster III is powered by four Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbojet engines with 4 x 181 kN of thrust. The rear fuselage with a folding ramp allows easy loading of transported material or troops. The 20.78 m long cargo cabin has a volume of 592 m³ and enable the transport of up to 220 passengers or 102 fully armed paratroopers. The main task of the C-17 Globemaster III, however, is to transport cargo that can have a total weight of up to 77.3 tonnes, which represents, for example, 18 standardised 463L pallets, or two M3 Bradley armoured personnel carriers with 54 soldiers, or an M1 Abrams main battle tank. Four UH-60, Black Hawk helicopters, can also be carried on board, or two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and three OH-58 Kiowa helicopters; in all cases, the helicopters have staggered rotors. The unladen range is 8,710 km, dropping to about half with maximum payload. However, the range can be increased by in-flight refuelling. Unpaved runways can also be used for take-off and landing.

The modern design allows for incremental upgrades, which have already been applied during production. In particular, the instrumentation and navigation equipment has been upgraded to facilitate the work of a standard three-person crew.

Currently, the USAF is the main user of the Globemaster III. Other users are British RAF, Australia, Canada, India, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and some NATO countries under the Strategic Airlift Capability programme.

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