Indian Air Force orders 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft 0602121.

The order, approved by the Indian government last June, extends the Globemaster III production line in Long Beach, Calif., for another year, until July 2014.

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft. Developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas, the C-17 is used for rapid strategic airlift of troops and cargo to main operating bases or forward operating bases throughout the world. It can also perform tactical airlift, medical evacuation and airdrop missions.

Within the next few months, Boeing has to decide whether production will cease at that point. The U.S. stopped ordering the jumbo cargo jet two years ago, and production for the Defense Department, totaling 223 planes, will wrap up in September. But foreign sales will keep it going awhile longer.

However, unless new orders come in next month or early in the second quarter, Boeing will have to take the risk of buying parts that take a long time to build in order to keep production going beyond mid-2014, in hopes of landing new orders later.