MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

RAF signs contract for seventh C 17 strategic transport aircraft

The C17’s huge capacity enables carriage of loads such as a Chinook helicopter or thirteen Land Rovers

The Royal Air Force has signed a contract for the seventh C17 aircraft the UK Ministry of Defence announced Tuesday. The new strategic transport aircraft will add to a fleet that has seen heavy usage during recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Boeing C17 Globemaster can operate in both strategic and tactical roles, combining trans-continental range with the ability to operate from short runways under basic conditions.

The C17’s huge capacity enables carriage of loads such as a Chinook helicopter or thirteen Land Rovers, or mixed freight loads of up to 160,000 lbs. The new C17 aircraft will join the rest of the fleet at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire when it enters service with the RAF in March 2011 after it has been fitted with self-protection measures.

This additional C17 is part of the £900 million package of enhancements for operations over the next three years announced by the Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, last week.

“Afghanistan remains our top priority and this extra C17 represents a major contribution to the strategic airlift directly supporting our troops in Afghanistan. Since its entry into service in 2001, the UK’s C17 fleet has provided outstanding performance in RAF service in support of operations, humanitarian relief and routine tasks. The additional aircraft will allow our strategic transport capacity to be expanded during a period of intensive coalition operations”, said Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth.

Officer Commanding 99 Squadron, Wing Commander Simon Edwards, said that the operational record of the C 17 “ is unsurpassed. The current fleet of six aircraft delivers an incredible capability to our deployed forces and the announcement of a seventh aircraft will mean a great deal not only to the RAF but to the soldiers on the front line. There is no better way – and often no other way – to get vital equipment such as helicopters and large vehicles, such as Mastiff, where they are needed and when they are needed”

Six RAF C17s are operated by 99 Squadron from their base at RAF Brize Norton on Oxfordshire. Since the first aircraft was delivered in 2001, the RAF C17 fleet has flown well over 50,000 hours, largely in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also including humanitarian relief work in South-East Asia and Pakistan. (MoD)