Aero India 2009: Defence Industries News

he C 17 Globemaster III is the newest airlift aircraft to enter the Air Force’s inventory of the US Air Force. It is a high-wing, four-engine, T-tailed aircraft with a rear loading ramp. With its 160,000-pound payload, the C 17 can take off from a 7,600-foot airfield, fly 2,400 nautical miles and land on a small, austere airfield in 3,000 feet or less. The C 17 can be refueled in-flight. On the ground, a fully loaded aircraft, using engine reversers, can back up a two percent slope. The first C 17 Squadron was operational in January 1995. Since then the fleet has amassed more than 75,000 flying hours and has been involved in numerous contingency operations, including flying troops and equipment to Operation Joint Endeavor to support peacekeeping in Bosnia and the Allied Operation in Kosovo. Eight C 17s, in 1998, completed the longest airdrop mission in history,