STEVE NICHOLS
Boeing is hoping its C-17 military air transport will win new European customers from among those nations which have expressed keen interest to copy the seven-year $1-billion leasing deal the RAF struck with Boeing for its four aircraft.
Chris Raymond, of Boeing's aircraft and missile group, says the RAF is another happy customer and Boeing is keen to build on that success worldwide.
"The aircraft has done exactly what we wanted it to do and has proved to be remarkable in theatres like operation ‘Enduring Freedom'.
"Many countries may have thought that the C-17 was out of their reach financially, but the UK leasing deal shows they are wrong.
Fleets
"There are plenty of countries looking to replace their ageing Lockheed Martin C-130 fleets and the C-17 makes a lot of sense," he says.
The 87th C-17 has just been delivered from Boeing's Long Beach, California centre and production is being ramped up to 15 aircraft a year.
All aircraft have so far been delivered ahead of schedule. There are a total of 120 C-17s in the first shipset order, with 60 more C-17FO aircraft to follow.
Boeing envisages orders for at least 40 more to bring the total to around 222 aircraft.
Raymond doesn't want to knock the C-130, but says the C-17 can do so much more.
Sorties
"With its 170,000lb (77,000kg) payload, the C-17's ramp alone can hold as much as an entire C-130.
"The C-17 transported everything into Camp Rhino in just four sorties – it would have taken 22 C-130 trips to achieve the same result. C-17 is the right platform for the future.
"Australia is looking for a C-130 replacement and if Japan is now going to be more involved in humanitarian aid missions it too is a possible customer. The same reasoning can be applied to Canada," Chris says.
C-17 deployment is being backed by Boeing's C-17 Flexible Sustainment maintenance and repair programme.
With three bases in the USA and one at RAF Brize Norton in the UK, the scheme will soon extend to a total of 10 centres, including Alaska and Hawaii.
Source: Flight Daily News
