United Arab Emirates announce purchase of two C-17 airlifters and nine AW139 helicopters.

The deal was one of the last to be announced at the biennial event, where the UAE military signed total deals worth 18.33 billion dirhams with local and international companies, Ketbi said.

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft. It was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 isa high-wing, 4-engine, T-tailed military-transport aircraft, multi-service transport aircraft for large equipment, supplies and troops directly to small airfields in harsh terrain anywhere in the world day or night. The massive, sturdy, long-haul aircraft tackles distance, destination and heavy, oversized payloads in unpredictable conditions. It has delivered cargo in every worldwide operation since the 1990s. The C-17 Globemaster III is the newest, most flexible cargo aircraft to enter the airlift force. The C-17 is capable of rapid strategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases or directly to forward bases in the deployment area.

Six C-17s are actually in use in the UAE Air Force.

The United Arab Emirates armed forces have also signed a 732 million dirham ($200 million) contract with AgustaWestland to buy 9 AW139 helicopters, a spokesman for a UAE defence organisation said on Tuesday.

Six of the helicopters will be used for search and rescue operations and the remaining three will be used for transporting VIPs, said Obadi al-Ketbi, chairman of the organising committee for the International Defence Exhibition and Conference ( IDEX) under way in Abu Dhabi.

The AgustaWestland AW139 is a 15-seat medium sized twin-engined helicopter. Designed with inherent multi-role capability and flexibility of operation, the AW139 is capable of carrying up to 15 passengers at very high speed, in a most spacious and comfortable cabin.