RAAF selects C-17
Defence will spend $2 billion to acquire up to four Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy airlifters, the minister for defence, Dr Brendan Nelson, announced last month. Australia will be only the second export customer for the C-17, after Great Britain which has ordered five aircraft.
Nelson made the announcement at RAAF Base Richmond, near Sydney, where the first C-17 will be delivered later this year. The aircraft are being acquired under a US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal with the US Air Force. The second and third aircraft will be delivered in 2007 and early-2008; if a fourth aircraft is ordered this will also be delivered during the first quarter of 2008.
The decision to acquire a fourth aircraft will be made during the contract negotiations and will depend on the unit cost of the aircraft.
"This is the only aircraft currently in production which has a proven capability to meet ADF operational commitments in Australia, the region and globally," Nelson said.
The C-17 has four times the payload of the RAAF's existing C-130 Hercules and the capacity and range that will allow the ADF to rapidly deploy troops, combat vehicles, heavy equipment and helicopters, Nelson added. This includes the M1A1 Abrams tank, which the Australian Army will start to receive later this year; each C-17 has the capacity to transport five Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicles, or four Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters.
"The fleet of up to four aircraft will give Australia a new Responsive Global AirLift (RGA) capability, significantly enhancing the ADF's ability to support national and international operations, and major disaster rescue and relief efforts," Nelson said.
"As the C-17... is currently in production... this will give the ADF the Responsive Global Airlift operating capability it needs within a short time-frame. Acquisition of the C-17 will also provide significant opportunity for our aerospace industry with Boeing proposing an Australian Industry Capability program valued at $345 million over the life of the aircraft," according to Nelson.
The C-17s will be based initially at Richmond but will relocate in 2008 to RAAF Base Amberley where Boeing Australia Ltd has a large military aircraft maintenance facility. Amberley is also much closer than Richmond to the Australian Army's helicopter and armored infantry bases in Brisbane, Oakey and Townsville, enabling more rapid loading and deployment of troops, vehicles and helicopters.
Nelson's predecessor, senator Robert Hill, announced last December that his department would consider the acquisition of a heavy airlifter to enhance the reach and responsiveness of the ADF and said the RAAF would study both the C-17 and the Airbus A400M.
Airbus Military which manufactures the A400M, announced in February a package of industry involvement measures designed to help secure a sale of the A400M in Australia. But this wasn't enough to defeat the C-17 - the A400M is not scheduled to enter operational service until 2009.
Boeing's C-17 assembly line at Long Beach is four aircraft ahead of its delivery schedule to the US Air Force, according to Boeing sources. This will allow the company to deliver the RAAF's three or four C-177s very quickly, ADM was told.