iscoverIn Focus
Profile: C-17A Globemaster III
0 comment
The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III is a four-engine heavy transport aircraft that can accommodate huge payloads and land on runways just 1 kilometre long. That flexibility comes from its savvy design, which mixes both high-lift wings and light-touch controls requiring just three onboard (pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster). Cargo is loaded onto the C-17 through a ramp system at the back, while its floor has nifty rollers that flip from flat to handle wheeled vehicles or pallets. All of which means it can transport just about anything, from Blue Hawk helicopters to Abrams tanks and more than 100 paratroopers with equipment. No wonder the US Air Force has a fleet of 223 of them.
Closer to home, RAAF owns eight, all operated by No. 36 Squadron and based at RAAF Base Amberley. The first arrived in 2006 and the last in 2015, complementing its CH-47F Chinooks and C-130J Hercules. If the name sounds familiar, you’ll likely have heard of the Globemaster from its humanitarian work: Australia dispatched its fleet when MH17 was shot down in Ukraine, to deliver disaster relief to citizens caught up in the Queensland floods, and carry help and supplies in the wake of 2011’s Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
Career highlight: The Globemaster has arguably been Australia’s most influential aircraft in recent times. In March this year, it delivered both lethal and non-lethal equipment to Ukraine, but it also sent COVID supplies to the subcontinent and Solomon Islands since the start of the pandemic.
Fleet: 8
Purchased: 2006
Wingspan: 51.75m
Length: 53m
Height: 16.8m
Speed: Mach 0.74 (829km/h)
Operated by: No. 36 Squadron
Based: RAAF Base Amberley
Range: 10,390km with paratroopers
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Australian Aviation a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Australian Aviation as a preferred news source.
