India will soon send the ‘letter of acceptance’ to buy the C-17 from Washington via the FMS route
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to acquire the last Boeing white-tail C-17 strategic transport aircraft after the defense acquisition committee cleared the procurement.
As reported by ThePrint, India will soon send the ‘letter of acceptance’ (LOA) to buy the aircraft from Washington via the FMS route.
As we have previously explained, India failed to send the LOA to buy the last available Boeing C-17 in October and for this reason the country asked for an extension of the the procurement process till November.
In 2011, India had bought 10 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters at a cost of $4.7 billion. The deal also featured a follow clause to procure six more aircraft. But due to the budget cuts the IAF could procure only further three of them.
In 2015 the IAF made a proposal to buy the three additional C-17s to add to ist Globemaster fleet. But because of IAF long procurement process and the shutting down of the C-17 production line, only one aircraft was left to procure.
The C-17 made its maiden flight on Sept. 15, 1991, and the first production model was delivered to Charleston Air Force Base (AFB), now known as Joint Base Charleston, S.C., on June 14, 1993. The first squadron of C-17s, the 17th Airlift Squadron, was declared operationally ready Jan. 17, 1995.
The C-17 is capable of rapid strategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases or directly to forward bases in the deployment area. The aircraft can perform tactical airlift and airdrop missions and can transport litters and ambulatory patients during aeromedical evacuations when required. The inherent flexibility and performance of the C-17 force improve the ability of the total airlift system to fulfill the worldwide air mobility requirements of the U.S.
Photo credit: Jet Fabara / U.S. Air Force
Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com
