Britain Adds to Its C-17 fleet

RAF C-17

In 2000 the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a 7-year ‘lease-and-support’ agreement with Boeing and the United States Air Force for the use of 4 Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs (3 + 1 “active reserve”) for the period 2001 – 2007, with an option for a possible extension to 9 years. Although it has the ability to operate from unprepared strips, the RAF uses the C-17 as a strategic transport aircraft to established bases, especially those that are far from Britain. The C-17 made its RAF operational debut during the Afghanistan conflict in 2001.

Front line needs soon had the C-17 fleet in high demand, and a combination of an aging C-130K Hercules force and delays to Britain’s 25 22 planned A400M transports stretched the RAF’s transport fleet even more. Instead of extending the C-17 lease, therefore, a deal struck with Boeing in 2006 saw the UK buy all 4 aircraft outright, and add a 5th aircraft to the RAF’s C-17 fleet at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Since then, the fleet has kept on growing. A 6th C-17 was ordered in 2007, a 7th was ordered in 2009, and #8 was ordered and delivered in 2012.

UK Boasts Double Digit Defense Export Order Growth in 2013

• The UK’s government released 2013 defense export numbers up 11% to £9.8B ($16.8B), thanks to helicopter sales to Norway and South Korea, ongoing Middle Eastern deals, and a still respectable billion pounds worth of orders from the US. The report shows the UK far ahead of Russia, France and Germany, though it does recognize that relying on publicly acknowledged deals may overstate Britain’s actual market share. Another caveat is that this data tracks bookings rather than billings, but large defense contracts often follow a tortuous path to actual completion and payment.