McDONNELL DOUGLAS C-17 transports were achieving an overall 98.36% departure reliability rate by the end of two "wartime surge" days, representing the most critical phase of the exhaustive 30-day US Air Force evaluation exercise.
After the second "surge" day, the participating fleet of 12 C-17s had notched up 240 out of 244 on-time departures. Aircraft utilisation was up to 16h/day while the full-mission-capable rate was also around 85%, or some 10% above the requirement. In all cases, the results are "above expectations at this point", says the USAF.
The reliability, maintainability and availability evaluations are being used, as a critical test by the Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board. This will decide in November whether to authorise the purchase of more C-17s beyond the 40 on order, or a mix of C-17s and non-developmental transporters such as the Boeing 747-400F or Lockheed C-5D.
Source: Flight International
