10:28 GMT, February 10, 2009 Boeing has received a highly valued contract from the U.S. Air Force for 15 additional C-17 military transport aircraft worth nearly $3 billion, the U.S. Department of Defence announced Friday. "The Air Force is awarding a firm, fixed price contract to (Boeing subsidiary) McDonnell Douglas Corporation of Long Beach, California for an amount not to exceed 2.95 billion dollars ... for the procurement of 15 C-17 aircraft," the Department of Defense said in a statement. The statement did not disclose the expected date of delivery of the aircraft but the U.S. Congress has recently approved $3.6 billion in funding for the acquisition of these 15 aircraft.
This new contract is essential for the C-17 Globemaster III programme, since the production line had been on the verge of being closed as orders for this huge aircraft have been significantly reduced. A company spokesman said the new contract “would keep C-17s moving down the production line until at least August 2010, even as we complete existing orders from the Air Force and our international customers.”
The C-17 is currently in service with the United States Air Force (171), as well as the Royal Australian Air Force (4), Canadian Forces (4), and the Royal Air Force (6). One C-17 (on loan from the U.S. Air Force) is also operated by the Heavy Airlift Wing of NATO and two others are on order. Qatar is also reported to have ordered two aircraft through FMS channels, although this has some perplexing implications.
Keeping the production line open is of paramount importance to Boeing in that the uncertain status of the European A400M transport aircraft programme has lead some nations to think about alternatives - and the Globemaster III is virtually the only alternative. For example, the German Luftwaffe is considering leasing between two and four C-17 aircraft to fill the gap while waiting for the A400M. Beyond that, British Defense Secretary John Hutton said in January of this year that Britain was looking to buy more C-17’s to avoid the land supply route through Pakistan which remains vulnerable to attacks by militants. Hutton also expressed concern about the recent news from Military Airbus that its A400M military airlifter would not be ready before 2012 (see: http://www.defpro.com/news/details/4780/). Hutton told reporters that Britain could not accept a three to four year delay in the delivery of the aircraft.
The C-17 has earned a good reputation as it can fly long distances and land on short landing strips, which is considered very important for missions such as maintaining airlifts to Iraq or Afghanistan, which currently involves many of these aircraft.
Luca Bonsignore
