Boeing announced that the planemaker today delivered the first of six Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifters to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force and Air Defence.
“It is with great pride that we accept delivery of our first C-17, which will help expand our ability to perform humanitarian and strategic-lift missions in the region and around the world,” said Maj. Gen. Staff Pilot Mohammed bin Suwaidan Saeed Al Qamzi, UAE Air Force and Air Defence commander. “The C-17’s advanced capabilities, high reliability, and mission readiness rate met all of our requirements.”
The UAE will take delivery of three more C-17s this year and two in 2012 as it modernizes its airlift capabilities.
The C-17 is already operated by the U.S. Air Force, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, NATO and Qatar. In addition to the newest operator United Arab Emirates, India has also placed a preliminary agreement to order the aircraft.
The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military airlifter. Developed by McDonnell Douglas from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the C-17 is used for tactical and strategic airlift of troops and cargo, medical evacuation and airdrop missions. The C-17 carries the name of two previous U.S. military cargo aircraft, the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II.
The C-17 is designed to operate from runways as short as 3,500 ft (1,064 m) and as narrow as 90 ft (27 m). In addition, the C-17 can operate from unpaved, unimproved runways (although with greater chance of damage to the aircraft). The thrust reversers can be used to back the aircraft and reverse direction on narrow taxiways using a three- (or more) point turn. The thrust reversers can also be used in flight at idle-reverse for added drag in maximum-rate descents.
