Five and counting

Smith said the fifth and sixth aircraft will effectively double 36SQN’s heavy airlift capability from the original fleet of four aircraft when allowing for scheduled and unplanned maintenance. He said recent natural disasters in our region including Cyclone Yasi, the Christchurch earthquake and the Japan tsunami, as well as the C-17’s ongoing support to Australian forces deployed in the Middle East, had repeatedly proven the aircraft’s utility, and that the capability offered by the aircraft “underlines Australia’s regional influence” and our responsibility as an “international citizen.”

The original fleet of four C-17s, which was announced in February 2006 and delivered from December that year, was bolstered earlier this year by the acquisition of the fifth aircraft, a request for which was submitted in late February and the order for which was signed in early April.

It is believed the RAAF asked for an additional two C-17s prior to the fifth aircraft being ordered, but sufficient funding wasn’t available at the time, and the fifth aircraft was ordered instead of an additional two C-130J Hercules transports under Project Air 8000 Phase 1. It was thought two new C-130Js would become a sub-fleet within 37SQN, as the last of the previous 12 aircraft was delivered in 2000, and the new aircraft would still be too new and thus out of sync when it came time to replace the older ‘Js’ in the late 2020s.

The fifth C-17 made its first flight from Boeing’s Long Beach, California facility on August 25, and from the time of order to the handover to the RAAF on September 14, it was delivered in a remarkable 142 days after an urgent requirement from the RAAF to cover heavy maintenance of its first C-17 , A41-206.

The September 14 delivery ceremony for A41-210 was attended by Minister Smith, Chief of the Defence Force GEN David Hurley, secretary of the Department of Defence Duncan Lewis, and US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich.

“Since 2006, Boeing has enjoyed a strong partnership with the RAAF and the crews who fly the C-17. With this fifth C-17, the RAAF continues to expand and extend its global airlift reach,” Boeing’s C-17 program manager Bob Ciesla said.

Added Boeing Military Aircraft president Chris Chadwick, “Australia’s fleet of four C-17s has been on the front lines of defence and humanitarian missions around the world, and continues to demonstrate the aircraft’s great versatility and capability. We look forward to a continued close partnership with the Commonwealth.”

The rapid delivery of the fifth aircraft was made possible by the USAF making available one its airframes that was already in final assembly. In recent years, despite the USAF saying it didn’t require any more aircraft, the US Congress has continued to fund additional C-17s in successive budgets in order to maintain the US’s last large military aircraft manufacturing capability and to keep Boeing’s Long Beach facility open.

But because the sixth aircraft isn’t as urgent and assuming both the US and Australian governments approve its purchase and funding on schedule, it isn’t expected to be delivered until the fourth quarter of 2012.

In order to accommodate the two new aircraft, the RAAF expects additional ramp and hangar space and terminal facilities will be required at the northern end of Amberley where 36SQN’s C-17s and the growing fleet of KC-30A MRTTs of 33SQN – expected to number four by early next year – are based. RAAF sources tell Australian Aviation that, although there is some money left in the original C-17 budget to cover some of the cost of doing this work, extensive flood remediation work around the northern end of Amberley will also be required as that area was partially inundated during January’s floods. Indeed, AA understands that part of the base was actually flooded by water that had fallen on the base area rather than by rising water from the nearby creek, and that previous flood and runoff modelling has proven to be inaccurate.

The fifth and sixth C-17 were funded from supplemental or brought forward government funding made available by successive DMO project underspends, and did not come from the original project budget.

According to Boeing, as of mid September 235 C-17s were in service with the USAF (215), the UK (7), Canada (5), the UAE (1), Qatar (2), and Australia, while India signed a contract in June for 10 C-17s.