Boeing has delivered the 11th C17 Globemaster III transport aircraft to Indian Air Force.

American Company Boeing on Monday, August 26, 2019, delivered the 11th C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The plane is also the last C-17 produced by the company.

Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft (Picture source Wikimedia)

In June 2017, the U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of India for C-17 transport aircraft. The estimated cost is $366.2 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.

The Government of India has requested the possible sale of one (1) C-17 transport aircraft with four (4) Turbofan F-117-PW-100 engines. The sale would also include one (1) AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning System, one (1) AN/ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispensing System (CMDS), one (1) AN/APX-119 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) Transponder, precision navigation equipment, spare and repair parts, maintenance, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, warranty, Quality Assurance, ferry support, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, logistics and technical support services, and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated cost is $366.2 million.

Since their induction in 2013, the IAF C-17s have performed a wide range of operations in military missions and provided peacekeeping support, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief across a variety of terrain.

The IAF has deployed C-17 aircraft near the Chinese border and one of them had actually landed at the Tuting Airfield 29 kilometers away from the Line of Actual Control. Tuting is a part of a disputed swathe of land claimed as South Tibet by China and Arunachal Pradesh by India.

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 is a 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 aircraft is operated by a crew of three (pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster), reducing manpower requirements, risk exposure and long-term operating costs. Cargo is loaded onto the C-17 through a large aft door that accommodates military vehicles and palletized cargo. The C-17 can carry virtually all of the Army's air-transportable equipment.

The maximum payload capacity of the C-17 is 170,900 pounds (77,519 kilograms), and its maximum gross takeoff weight is 585,000 pounds (265,352 kilograms). With a payload of 169,000 pounds (76,657 kilograms) and an initial cruise altitude of 28,000 feet (8,534 meters), the C-17 has an unrefueled range of approximately 2,400 nautical miles. Its cruise speed is approximately 450 knots (.74 Mach). The C-17 is designed to airdrop 102 paratroopers and equipment.