Lockheed Martin re-delivered the 31st C-5M Super Galaxy from its conversion line at Marietta, Ga., Oct. 23. The former C-5B, serial number 84-0060, was first delivered in April 1984, and logged some 20,930 flying hours before being upgraded, according to a company release. After undergoing cockpit upgrades, re-engining, and structural modifications to bring it up to C-5M standards, the aircraft was ferried to Stewart ANGB, N.Y., for interior remodeling. Once complete, the aircraft will fly to Travis AFB, Calif., becoming the 13th Super Galaxy assigned there. Travis crews tested the first C-5M-SCM converted from a former C-5C airframe for compatibility with outsized NASA space cargo earlier this month, and dispatched its last legacy C-5 to Marietta for conversion this summer. The Air Force is upgrading a total of 52 legacy C-5s under the combined Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program and Avionic Modernization Program.
The credibility of America’s deterrent is waning, and the way to get it back is by restructuring defense leadership and raising the defense budget almost 100 percent, according to a new paper from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.