Another Air Force C-5B transport aircraft has entered Lockheed Martin’s facility in Marietta, Ga., to receive new General Electric F138-GE-100 engines and numerous reliability improvements, the company announced Wednesday. This is the fifth C-5B inducted into Marietta since the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program’s modification line there has been up and running. Prior to that, Lockheed upgraded one C-5A and two C-5Bs during RERP’s development phase. A C-5 fitted with the RERP gear is known as a C-5M Super Galaxy. So far, the Air Force has taken delivery of four C-5Ms. Lockheed C-5 spokesman Chad Gibson told the Daily Report Wednesday that the company expects to deliver the next one in February. All Super Galaxies in the fleet thus far are based at Dover AFB, Del. Overall, the Air Force plans to upgrade 52 C-5s to the M 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.