Cameron welcomes RAF's last C-17 to Brize Norton

Steyr

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/01/21/352196/pictures-cameron-welcomes-rafs-last-c-17-to-brize.html


Aircraft
DATE:21/01/11
SOURCE:Flight International

Cameron welcomes RAF's last C-17 to Brize Norton
By Craig Hoyle


The UK Royal Air Force has marked the introduction to service of its seventh and last Boeing C-17 strategic transport during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Performed at RAF Brize Norton on 21 January, the event followed the UK's acceptance of aircraft ZZ177 at Boeing's Long Beach site in California last November, and its arrival in the UK on 14 January.

Joining six C-17s delivered to the RAF's 99 Sqn since May 2001, ZZ177 will provide airlift services including supporting the service's "airbridge" between the UK and Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence says the transport “has been declared ready for operations and will start flying troops and equipment to the frontline at the beginning of February”.

© David Hartley/Rex Features




The UK’s C-17s have already amassed more than 65,000 flying hours. “The RAF utilises its C-17s more than any other service today,” says Boeing UK C-17 programme manager Liz Pace.

The RAF and Boeing had planned to host a general media facility to welcome the aircraft at Brize Norton, but this was abandoned within less than 24h of the event to allow only local press to attend. The service's transport super-base falls within Cameron's parliamentary constituency of Witney, Oxfordshire.

The C-17 fleet will from late this year be joined at Brize Norton by the RAF's first of 14 Airbus A330-200-based Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft. The base will also eventually house 22 Airbus Military A400Ms, with the type to be named the "Atlas" in UK service.

The RAF expects the A400M to achieve its in-service date during 2015, with the milestone to be declared with the availability of its seventh aircraft.

johnny_doyle

the flip side is the demise of the Hercs and the closure of Lyneham

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/8794132.Fat_Albert_makes_its_last_journey/

BlaasForRafa

Choosing the unproven over-budget A400M over the proven cost-effective C-17 and C-130 seems pretty retarded.

OS119

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

Choosing the unproven over-budget A400M over the proven cost-effective C-17 and C-130 seems pretty retarded.

its money already sunk into the A400M - if they cancel the buy they get nothing, and cancelling wouldn't be much cheaper than buying the things anyway - and the industrial shareout means that for every x number of airframes the RAF orders, y percentage of the airframe is built in the UK, and therefore keeping UK workers and companies paying tax to the UK exchequer. buying C-130J or C-17 doesn't provide that 'kickback'.

C-130J is great, its a completely proven airframe with a completely proven logistics and training provider, but its just not big enough to carry the newer types of armoured vehicle that are either in service or about to come into service. the only other option to the A400M in this case is a complete C-17 fleet, which would be a fantastic thing, but it would provide no UK industrial kickback (and its a big deal - if the JSF program reaches 4000 airframes the UK buy of 140-odd F-35's would, in effect, be free), and be more expensive per flying hour than a A400M flying hour.