Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that it has delivered the 50th C-5 transport aircraft to the Air Force that has been fitted with new avionics. The aircraft, delivered to Air Force Reserve Command’s 433rd Airlift Wing at Lackland AFB, Tex., is now equipped, like the other 49, with a state-of-the-art glass cockpit that has modern communications and navigation gear and flight instruments. Lockheed is performing these upgrades as part of USAF’s C-5 avionics modernization program (AMP), which is adding the new features to all 111 C-5s in the fleet. The AMP installations are taking place at Dover AFB, Del., and at Travis AFB, Calif. They are expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2014, according to Lockheed. In addition to the new avionics, 52 of the 111 C-5s are on the books to receive new engines and reliability enhancements.
Poor event planning and staffing contributed to a fatal mishap last April at Kadena Air Base, Japan, when rotor wash from an HH-60W helicopter knocked over a Japanese teacher from a Department of Defense Education Activity school attending a public aerial demonstration, according to an Air Force investigation.
