Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that it has inducted the third Air Force C-5 transport into its production line in Marietta, Ga., to receive new engines and reliability enhancements under the RERP program. “We are excited every time we induct an aircraft to become a Super Galaxy, because it is the sunrise of a new generation of strategic airlifters,” said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed’s C-5 vice president. This aircraft, a C-5B model, will be the sixth C-5 that will be converted to the new C-5M Super Galaxy configuration. The first three C-5s were modified while the RERP upgrades were still in development and the production line was being established. Overall, the Air Force plans to modify 52 C-5s (one C-5A, 49 C-5Bs, and two C-5Cs) to the new configuration.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.