US Air Force has changed its plans regarding the service life of its C-5M Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft and plans to extend them to avoid a gap between retiring these machines and the appearance of aircraft to replace them we're talking about machines being created under the Next-Generation Airlift (NGAL) project.
So, as of today, it's known that the US Air Force plans to keep C-5 Galaxy aircraft in service until 2045 (meaning another 20 years), and C-17 Globemaster until 2075 (another whole 50 years), Defence One writes about this.
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These are indeed significant service terms considering, for example, the fact that back in 2004 the US Air Force published recommendations regarding the viability of the C-5 Galaxy aircraft fleet, and it stated that despite these aircraft being among the oldest in the US Air Force arsenal, they could serve approximately another 25 years meaning until 2029. And now their service life is being extended another 16 years.
For understanding, the first flight of the C-5 Galaxy took place in June 1968, and this aircraft was adopted for service in 1973. The US Air Force began receiving refurbished C-5M modification aircraft in late 2008.
Regarding the C-17 Globemaster, the first flight of this aircraft took place in September 1991, and production lasted from 1991 to 2015. That is, as of 2075, the youngest C-17 will be 60 years old, and the oldest over 80 years old, which is quite a respectable age for aircraft.
Regarding replacement in the form of the newest Next-Generation Airlift (NGAL) aircraft, production of these aircraft should start no earlier than 2038 in 13 years, and after the NGAL aircraft is supplied to service, with each new machine, first one C-5 at a time will go into retirement, and then the turn will reach the C-17.
Today, former US Air Force representatives are concerned about this situation, because keeping aircraft in service for such a long time is a very difficult task. And especially considering the low readiness level of C-5 (only 48 percent, and due to problems with spare parts and maintenance, some aircraft literally stood idle for years), as well as C-17 accident rate (21 Class A cases (meaning the most serious incidents) over the past four years).
Defense Express previously reported on why Germans are buying a Polish copy of the An-28 and why this is a very logical choice for such tasks.
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