The new C-5 transport configuration, the C-5M Super Galaxy, has had “phenomenal, magnificent performance” since its fleet introduction, said Gen. Raymond Johns, head of Air Mobility Command, Tuesday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference. With it, the Air Force is able to deliver equipment rapidly to ground troops in Afghanistan, he said. The C-5Ms carry this cargo from Rota, Spain, on eight-hour flights into the combat theater. “We would not have used the C-5 before for a very critical mission” like this because of reliability issues with previous configurations, he said. Johns said he was recently at Rota talking to airmen who loaded helicopters onto a C-5M. These airmen told him that “the airplane doesn’t break” and the crews “wore out before the aircraft” did. “That’s how wonderful the new C-5M is,” he said. The C-5M model features new engines, reliability enhancements, and avionics. There are three C-5Ms already in service; Lockheed Martin is modifying 52 of USAF’s C-5s to the M configuration. The next C-5M to enter the fleet, the fourth overall, will be delivered in the coming weeks to Dover AFB, Del.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
