New Heavy Airlift Capability For The Royal Australian Air Force

The new Defence Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson was pleased to announce that the Australian Government will acquire up to four new Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft and associated equipment to provide the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with a heavy airlift capability.

The Government has selected the C-17 by for its ability to meet the needs of the ADF over the next 30 years.

This is the only aircraft currently in production which has a proven capability to meet ADF operational commitments, in Australia, the region and globally. The C-17 has four times the carrying capacity of the RAAF C-130 Hercules.

The C-17 aircraft has the load capacity and range that will allow the ADF to rapidly deploy troops, combat vehicles, heavy equipment and helicopters. This includes the M1A1 Abrams Tank, as well as Black Hawk, Sea Hawk, and Chinook helicopters. Each C-17 has the capacity to transport five Bushmaster Infantry Vehicles, or three Tiger 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.

As the C-17 aircraft is currently in production, it is possible for the first aircraft to be delivered later this year with the balance of the fleet to be delivered by mid 2008. 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 $345m over the life of the aircraft.

The Minister had the pleasure of inspecting a United States Air Force C-17 with his parliamentary colleague, the Member for Macquarie, Mr Kerry Bartlett, at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Richmond. This visit included the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the Chief of the Air Force, Air Marshal Shepherd and the accompanying press, who joined in the inspection of the aircraft at the base.

When asked by a member of the media how it was possible that a decision for this type of capability was made so quickly, Dr Nelson said that he doesn’t like to muck around with these things. A capability gap existed and it needed to be filled.

This investment of up to $2 billion is in addition to the Howard Government's commitment of $28.5 billion in increased spending on defence capability over the 10-year period to 2010, building on the 2000 White Paper to increase Defence funding by three per cent annually, in real terms, until 2010/11.

United States Air Force (USAF) C-17 Globemaster III Serial Number 55146 from the 15th Air Wing, 154th Wing based at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, flew into Royal Australian Air Force Base (RAAF) Richmond.

Dr Brendan Nelson, Defence Minister making the announcement

The Minister with the Chiefs of Defence and Air

Captain Christopher Haines is an accompanying instructor for the flight from Hawaii to Australia on a brand new C-17 Boeing aircraft with only 65 hours on the clock.

Lieutenant Chelsea Kellso, a pilot based in Hawaii, who is quite tall, provides a good example of the volumetric capacity of the airframe.

Brad Sofka (left) and Steve Rubler are the accompanying flying Crew Chiefs based in Hawaii,