M A I N   N E W S

First US C-17 heavy-lift plane arrives next week
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
The first of the heavy lift transport planes, the C-17-Globemaster-III, is slated to land at the Hindon airbase near New Delhi on June 17. Once the entire fleet is in place, it will provide India with the ability to rapidly move troops, equipment, tanks and even choppers to far off places.

Two more planes will follow over the next six weeks after which the IAF will conduct a formal induction ceremony of the first lot of three in August. At present, the planes will be based at Hindon, where the first lot of six medium lift C-130-Js, also procured from the US, have been based.

India had ordered 10 C-17 from Boeing at a cost of $4.1 billion and deliveries are expected to completed by 2014 end. The order was placed in early 2011. The aircraft is produced at Boeing’s facility at Long Beach California.

Each of these planes will have a carrying capacity of 74 tonnes, that is more than double the capacity of the IAF’s existing heavy lift aircraft, the Soviet-origin IL-76. At present, the IAF has a 12 IL-76 which are largely used to ferry supplies to Jammu and Kashmir from Chandigarh. The medium lift requirements are met by the fleet of 100-odd AN-32 planes purchased from the Soviet Union some three decade ago.

The C-17 will play a crucial role in any force projection along the 4057-km long frontier with China. The plane can land at small forward airbases on semi-prepared runways, termed as advanced landing grounds (ALGs) in Indian defence ministry parlance. Such ALGs exist in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. It can ferry a tank and a couple of hundred troops. And with India looking to add 10 more C-17s to its fleet, the airlift capacity will then be to lift an infantry brigade (some 4,500 men) and land them at different place within hours.

The aircraft with strategic capabilities and can land at unprepared sand runways with a clearance of 3,000 feet and even when carrying its full load of 74 tonnes. The aircraft’s real use will be for carrying heavy equipment like tanks or choppers. The aircraft has an endurance of 4,500 km, hence allowing India to dominate its area of interest from the straits of Malacca to its east to the Persian Gulf to its west.

Around 250 C-17 are in service worldwide. When the US launched its offensive in Afghanistan in 2001, the plane was used to ferry supplies, vehicles and equipment. Most of these are with the US Air Force with small number of aircraft delivered to Australia, Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the 12-member strategic airlift capability initiative of NATO. India, by placing the order, has become the largest C-17 foreign operator.

The Globemaster-III

• Each of these planes will have a carrying capacity of 74 tonnes, that is more than double the capacity of the IAF's existing heavy-lift aircraft, the Soviet-origin IL-76
• At present, the IAF has 12 IL-76 which are largely used to ferry supplies to Jammu and Kashmir from Chandigarh
• The medium-lift requirements are met by the fleet of 100-odd AN-32 planes purchased from the Soviet Union 30 years ago
• The C-17 will play a crucial role in any force projection along the 4057-km-long frontier with China