C-17 is a heavy-lift, strategic transport capable of direct tactical delivery of all classes of military cargo. It is the U.S. military’s core airlift asset, capable of operating on small, austere airfields (3,500 ft by 90 ft) previously limited to C-130s. It is the only aircraft able to directly deliver or airdrop outsize cargo into a tactical environment, and it is the first military transport to feature fully digital, fly-by-wire control.
Early production aircraft have been upgraded to a common fleetwide configuration, and the most recent Block 21 including Mode 5 IFF and airspace compliance were completed in 2020 and most recently received modern, fleetwide LAIRCM self-defenses.
FY26 continues HUD replacement through FY28 and ramps-up install of enhanced high-bandwidth BLOS voice/data SATCOMS, as well as fire-protection, safety and sustainment mods. Future efforts include Flight Deck Replacement with an easily updatable modular infrastructure, and enhancing LOS/BLOS C2 capabilities. The C-17 is USAF’s largest consumer of jet fuel, and Pratt & Whitney is under contract to improve the F117 engine’s efficiency and increase maintenance intervals by 2027. Air Force Research Laboratory is also testing drag-reducing fuselage microvanes on several C-17s, which could be retrofit across the fleet.
C-17 Globemaster III Technical Data
Contractor: Boeing (previously McDonnell Douglas).
First Flight: Sept. 15, 1991.
Delivered: June 1993-Sept. 12, 2013.
IOC: Jan. 17, 1995.
Production: 257.
Inventory: 222.
Operator: AETC, AMC, PACAF, ANG, AFRC.
Aircraft Location: Altus AFB, Okla.; Dover AFB, Del.; JB Charleston, S.C.; JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; JB Lewis-McChord, Wash.; JB McGuire-Dix- Lakehurst, N.J.; JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; March ARB, Calif.; Pittsburgh Arpt., Pa.; Travis AFB, Calif.; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; and ANG in Hawaii (associate), Mississippi, North Carolina, West Virginia, and New York.
Active Variant: •C-17A. Long-range tactical/strategic airlifter.
Dimensions: Span 169.8 ft, length 174 ft, height 55.1 ft.
Weight: Max T-O 585,000 lb.
Power Plant: Four Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofans, each 40,440 lb thrust.
Performance: Speed 518 mph at 25,000 ft, range 2,760 miles with 169,000- lb payload (farther with air refueling).
Ceiling: 45,000 ft.
Accommodation: Two pilots, loadmaster; AE crew: Two flight nurses, three medical technicians (mission dependent).
Load: 102 troops/paratroopers; 36 litter and 54 ambulatory patients; 18 pallets up to max payload 170,900 lb.