The head of the U.S. Transportation doesn’t want to wait to start planning on a new airlifter to replace both the C-5 and C-17 fleets, which serve as the command’s “workhorses.”
“The issue with the C-17 is, while it performs well, a lot of folks think that it’s new, and it’s not a new plane, and so we will continue to use it and stress it,” Air Force Gen. Randall Reed said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on March 25. “And, because it takes such a long time to build the next plane, the time is now to start looking at the next one.”
The C-5, the Air Force’s biggest aircraft, can carry up to 285,000 pounds, while the C-17 can haul 170,000 pounds and is more capable of operating from smaller, austere runways ideal for contested environments. TRANSCOM relies heavily on these aircraft to move oversized cargo, personnel, and supplies worldwide, supporting everything from combat to humanitarian operations. Reed noted they “require investment” to ensure sustainability.
Both fleets face challenges; the Air Force tapped Pratt & Whitney for a $5.5 billion contract for engine sustainment and support in 2023, aiming for better fuel efficiency and longer maintenance intervals by 2027. The C-5 fleet underwent a $10 billion upgrade in 2018, including engine and avionics improvements, with the goal of driving its mission capable rate above 55 percent. However, despite initial success, the fleet’s readiness has since declined.
Air Force officials have spoken about a Next-Generation Airlift platform, or NGAL, but it is not an official program in the service budget and work on it remains preliminary at this point.
Gen. John D. Lamontagne, Air Mobility Command chief, recently speculated that a potential NGAL platform must be stealthy and capable of performing more missions than just transporting people and cargo. AMC is currently conducting a capabilities-based assessment focused on cargo capacity, range, survivability, and connectivity.
“We want to figure out what those next requirements look like before we fly the wings off the C-17,” Lamontagne said at AFA Warfare Symposium earlier this month. “There’s a healthy amount of life left in the C-17, but we want to stay in front of that.”
Tankers
Reed also highlighted the need to recapitalize the Air Force tanker fleet—a concern he raised with senators at a hearing earlier this month.
“The concerns that I have is that we continue to [re-capitalize] that fleet without a break,” said Reed. “The KC-135s that we have are aging, and as they continue to age, it’s harder to find the parts. Once we actually find the parts, and we begin to fix the airplanes, it takes longer, so the faster that we can continue to replace those planes is key.”
The Air Force plans to buy 183 KC-46 Pegasus aircraft to replace about half of the current KC-135 fleet. But the average age of the remaining Stratotankers will be 67 by the time the Air Force accepts the last KC-46. Lamontagne has suggested a service life extension program may be necessary.
The KC-46, meanwhile, “does have some challenges,” Reed said—an acknowledgement of its glaring deficiencies that have slowed progress and performance.
Deliveries of the KC-46 are suspended while Boeing investigates cracks in the outboard wing trailing edge. So far, 11 of 50 inspected KC-46s have shown cracks, with 39 more to be inspected in the next two weeks. Repairs are expected to proceed swiftly once the cause is determined.
However the timeline for resuming deliveries remains unclear, as most of the other, more chronic deficiencies with the KC-46 are still being worked on, according to Lamontagne.