C-17 Globemaster III

A four-engine, high-wing heavy transport that bridges the gap between strategic range and tactical short-field performance, delivering outsize cargo directly to the front line and forming the spinal column of Western military airlift for three decades.

Overview

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is the U.S. Air Force’s premier heavy airlifter and serves a broad set of allied and NATO operators. It unites a payload capacity of over 77 metric tonnes—enough for a single M1 Abrams main battle tank—with the ability to land on austere airstrips as short as 1,064 meters and only 27.4 meters wide, a combination that no other Western transport achieves. Air-refuellable and capable of intercontinental ferry flights, the C-17 has been the indispensable enabler of rapid global force projection, sustained combat logistics, humanitarian relief, and the direct resupply of forces under fire since 1995.

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