The first Australian Defence Force C-17 arrives in the nations capital: Wing Commander Linda Corbould, CO36 Squadron; Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-Marshal John Quaiffe; Defence Materiel Organisation Head Aerospace Systems Division, Air Vice-Marshal Clive Rossiter; and crew of the first Australian C-17 A41-206 on arrival in Canberra 4 December 2006.

The first of four C-17 Heavy Lift Aircraft procured by Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) arrived in Australian on 4 December.

Defence Minister, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson congratulated the RAAF, DMO, Boeing and the wider Defence community for ensuring the delivery of the aircraft within nine months of Government’s decision to acquire the capability.

C-17 Project Director, Group Captain Axel Augustin said the aircraft acquisition was one of the fastest undertaken by DMO.

‘C-17 is a good example of acquisition streamlining and was made possible because we had a well established product with a comprehensive support base,’ he said

‘The aircraft, purchased through the United States (US) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system, has not been ‘Australianised’ in anyway apart from painting of Australian markings on the aircraft’.

‘The purchase includes membership in the Globemaster Sustainment Partnership, a performance based logistics support contract. Australian aircraft will form part of the global C-17 fleet which allows Australia to access spares and support anywhere in the world. Operating as part of a global fleet significantly reduces support costs while providing high levels of aircraft availability as well as interoperability with allies,’ he said.

The high speed procurement was made possible through the combined efforts of the US Air Force, Boeing and the Australian Defence Organisation.

‘The US Air Force gave us their production aircraft and provided spares and support equipment at the expense of their own capability in order for us to succeed,’ Group Captain Augustin said.

To date the project has predominantly involved Australian Defence Organisation interaction with the US Government and their supplier, the Boeing company. However, Australian industry will have the opportunity to participate in the through life support of the C-17 Capability with the inclusion in the project of an Australian Industry Participation Program.

‘Boeing is responsible for the through life support of the aircraft and it is anticipated that they will increase staffing levels to meet the demand of this capability. We also anticipate flow on work to selected sub contractors.

The Australian Defence Force’s air lift capacity is significantly enhanced with the purchase of C-17 aircraft. It has almost four times the carrying capacity of a C130 Hercules and can travel twice the distance in half the time. A C-17 is capable of carrying five bushmaster infantry vehicles; or three Tiger helicopters; or up to 75 tonnes of emergency relief, about the equivalent of two semi-trailer loads of supplies.

Group Captain Augustin said he was very pleased with the delivery. ‘Arrival of the first aircraft is a fantastic milestone but there are a few more challenges ahead as we further develop our logistics support capabilities in the lead up to provision of initial operational capability in the later part of next year.’

‘In the new year the first aircraft will undertake transition, training, test and evaluation activities. Our second aircraft will arrive in June/July 2007 to be followed by the third and fourth by March 2008,’ he said.

Australia 's first C-17 Globemaster III A41-206