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Shaping the future
With Globemaster, Boeing claims to shape the future of aircraft transport
By Ajit.K.Dubey
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It is believed that the famous Wright brothers started the journey of modern aviation from the same place where Boeing’s C-17 III Globemaster production facility is situated in Long Beach. The Boeing Company claims that with the Globemaster, it’s shaping the future of the way transport aircraft are built.
Talking about the novelty that the C-17 brings with it and how it scores over the other transport aircraft fleet Mike J. Marshal, Senior Executive of the C-17 programme said: “Other military transport fleets of do not meet future airlift requirements and suffer from operational and technical obsolescence. They have inadequate payload carrying capability, short range and small cargo bay sections which limit their capabilities. The C-17 with its rectangular cargo bay and other innovations in design, scores over the others.”
Boeing says that though the IAF has not issued any specific request for information (RFI) for the C-17 III Globemaster but it was expecting the IAF to procure transport aircraft as the Indian Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major has been expressing IAF’s intent to replace and augment its fighter, transport, and helicopter fleets. The IAF in the past has been saying that its requirement for increasing its airlift fleet is growing due to enhanced national and international commitments that will only increase in the future. The Boeing officials said that if the IAF opted for the C-17 as its future transport aircraft; it can become the part of the C-17 Global Support Program which will help the IAF in making significant cost savings. Boeing has already given presentations to the IAF about the capabilities of the aircraft.
Talking about the number of aircraft that India would be interested in buying, Marshal said: “looking at the increasing requirement of heavy lift aircraft for operational and humanitarian relief work that the IAF does, it would be looking out for around 20 aircraft. But I think they would first start with 10 aircraft.”
Boeing officials said that with India’s increasing participation in international exercises across the globe, the Globemaster could be used for transporting equipment and troops over intercontinental distances. Commenting on the Russian IL-76 aircraft, which is used by India also, he said: “the Russian aircraft is a good aircraft but the C-17 can carry around 65 tonnes of weight in comparison with the 40 tonne capacity of the Illyushin product.”
A visit inside the facility shows that the aircraft has a modern production line where Boeing has applied the modern LEAN principles in production process to cut down the production time and the cost incurred on producing the aircraft. Marshal says that the use of the state-of-the-art production facilities has helped Boeing to keep the programme ahead of the scheduled delivery timeline of the USAF and to cut the cost of production also.
A tour inside the Royal Air Force C-17 undergoing flight evaluation trials at Long beach, one could see the difference in the construction of the fuselage that allows the aircraft to carry more load and troops inside. Instead of the usual circular fuselage, the aircraft has an almost rectangular fuselage, which allows more load to be accommodated inside it. Talking about the advantage of having a rectangular fuselage, the aircraft’s loadmaster says that in aircraft with circular fuselages, there can be only one row of payload or military transport but with a rectangular fuselage in an aircraft of the size of C-17, you can have two rows for similar payload. The aircraft can be used to transport tanks, howitzers and various types of other military and non military supplies.
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