MOD signs contract for additional C-17 Globemaster

January 4, 2010 by Jeffrey Bradford · Comment
Filed under: Boeing, Syndicated Industry News 
MOD signs contract for additional C-17 Globemaster

An Equipment and Logistics news article
January 4, 2010

Contracts have been signed for the RAF's seventh C-17 strategic transport aircraft to increase the size of the fleet that has seen heavy usage during recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster has proven extremely popular with the RAF and can operate in both strategic and tactical roles, combining transcontinental range with the ability to operate from short runways under basic conditions.

The C-17's huge capacity enables carriage of loads such as a Chinook helicopter or thirteen Land Rovers, or mixed freight loads of up to 160,000lbs (73,000kg).

The new C-17 aircraft will join the rest of the fleet at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire when it enters service with the RAF in March 2011 after it has been fitted with self-protection measures.

This additional C-17 is part of the £900m package of enhancements for operations over the next three years announced by the Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, in December 2009.

Mr Ainsworth said:

"Afghanistan remains our top priority and this extra C-17 represents a major contribution to the strategic airlift directly supporting our troops in Afghanistan.

"Since its entry into service in 2001, the UK's C-17 fleet has provided outstanding performance in RAF service in support of operations, humanitarian relief and routine tasks.

"The additional aircraft will allow our strategic transport capacity to be expanded during a period of intensive coalition operations."

Officer Commanding 99 Squadron, Wing Commander Simon Edwards, said:

"The operational record of the C-17 is unsurpassed. The current fleet of six aircraft deliver an incredible capability to our deployed forces and the announcement of a seventh aircraft will mean a great deal not only to the RAF but to the soldiers on the front line.

"There is no better way - and often no other way - to get vital equipment such as helicopters and large vehicles, such as Mastiff, where they are needed and when they are needed."

Six RAF C-17s are operated by 99 Squadron from their base at RAF Brize Norton. Since the first aircraft was delivered in 2001, the RAF C-17 fleet has flown well over 50,000 hours, largely in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also including humanitarian relief work in South East Asia and Pakistan.

It can carry a number of different equipment types. For instance it can carry a Chinook helicopter or three Apache helicopters or three Warrior vehicles or 13 Land Rovers or even a Tornado F3 fighter.

Configurations can vary but as an example it can transport 100,000lbs (45,500kg) of freight over 4,500 nautical miles (8,000km), flying above 30,000 feet (9,000 metres).

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Boeing delivers third C-17 for ISAF

October 8, 2009 by admin · Comment
Filed under: Syndicated Industry News 

LONG BEACH, Calif., Oct. 8 (UPI) -- The Boeing Co. delivered its third C-17 Globemaster III to NATO forces in support of a consortium of 12 nations in a strategic airlift initiative.

Pilots get C-17 training ground

October 7, 2009 by admin · Comment
Filed under: Syndicated Industry News 

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force opened an Alaskan airfield to give pilots of the C-17 Globemaster III a facility to practice assault landings.

Boeing Ships Next-Generation GPS Satellite to Cape Canaveral for Tests — Press Release

Boeing Ships Next-Generation GPS Satellite to Cape Canaveral for Tests

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., June 25, 2009 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] has shipped a Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to conduct a series of key tests for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation satellite navigation system.

Built at Boeing’s El Segundo satellite factory, Space Vehicle 2 (SV-2) is undergoing ground testing to prepare for the launch of SV-1, the first of 12 GPS IIF satellites. SV-2 arrived at Cape Canaveral May 7 aboard a C-17 Globemaster III. SV-2 is being used to execute a consolidated system test (CST), which is a set of one-time, system-level design validation tests involving the
space vehicle, the ground-based control segment, and user equipment. SV-2 is also being used as a “pathfinder” to validate satellite transportation processes and equipment, and to validate the launch site test program, procedures and equipment. After completion of the CST and pathfinder activities, SV-2 will return to El Segundo to prepare for its own launch from the Cape.

“The shipment of this pathfinder satellite keeps GPS IIF on track for its first launch, and continues Boeing’s long, successful history of building GPS satellites for the U.S. Air Force,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “The GPS IIF system will bring more capability and improved mission performance to the GPS constellation.”

GPS IIF is the product of Boeing’s experience with 39 successful satellites from the GPS Block I and Block II/IIA missions and more than 30 years of teamwork with the Air Force. GPS IIF features twice the navigational accuracy of heritage satellites, more robust signals for commercial aviation and search and rescue, and greater resistance to jamming in hostile environments. It will form the core of the constellation for many years to come.

GPS is a space-based, worldwide navigation system providing users with highly accurate, three-dimensional position, velocity and timing information 24 hours a day in all weather conditions. A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.

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Contact:

Marc Selinger
Space & Intelligence Systems
703-414-6138
marc.selinger@boeing.com

Diana Ball
Space & Intelligence Systems
562-797-4303
diana.ball@boeing.com

C-17 FMS buy

Boeing will continue the C-17 production line for a few more years. See a press release here. No details of how many aircraft or contract value were provided. Boeing is on contract for 190 C-17s for the USAF, of which 175 have been delivered. 15 more were just placed on contract as part of the FY08 Defense Supplemental bill. Boeing had been seeing the end of the production line with the finishing of USAF and foreign orders. Depending on the size of the Qatar order it may extend the line for some time.

Ducommun Incorporated Definitizes Contract with Boeing for C-17 Globemaster III Fuselage Skins

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ducommun Incorporated (NYSE:DCO) today announced that its Ducommun AeroStructures, Inc. (DAS) subsidiary has definitized a follow-on contract with The Boeing Company to provide fuselage skins for the C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft through the fourth quarter of 2010. Boeing produces the C-17 Globemaster III in Long Beach, CA for the U.S. Air Force and a growing number of international defense forces. These fuselage skins are manufactured at the DAS

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