Contract Signed For First Two Aircraft
Boeing announced this week the NATO Airlift Management Agency
(NAMA) general manager, on behalf of the Strategic Airlift
Capability (SAC) nations, signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance
with the US government for the acquisition of two Boeing C-17
Globemaster III long-range cargo jets. The agreement follows NATO's
October 1 announcement that the 12 SAC nations had formally agreed
to move forward with the acquisition of C-17s, which will address
national requirements for strategic airlift.
"We're pleased that SAC nations are moving quickly to meet their
critical needs with the C-17 Globemaster III," said Tommy Dunehew,
International C-17 program manager for Boeing. "The C-17 is
well-suited to meet the requirements of NATO and each of the
sovereign nations, and it continues to be regarded as the backbone
of international airlift missions, supporting numerous contingency,
humanitarian relief, and peacekeeping efforts around the
world."
Under an agreement with the US Department of Defense and NAMA,
two of the advanced airlifters would be purchased from Boeing,
while a third would be provided by the US Air Force. The aircraft
would be assigned to SAC's Heavy Airlift Wing and jointly operated
by the nations from Pápa Air Base, Hungary.
Each participating nation would pay for a portion of a C-17
rather than an entire aircraft, allowing them to share a pooled
fleet. The 12 nations participating in the SAC Program are
Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and the United
States.
"The
agreement with Boeing is a significant step forward in the ability
of NATO and partner nations to respond to a critical shortfall in
Alliance and national capabilities," said Gunnar Borch, NAMA
general manager. "It has been made possible by nations working
together, pooling resources and sharing costs to develop a
collective capability beyond the reach of, or not practical for,
many nations individually."
The C-17 fleet will allow each nation to meet its airlift
requirements to support sovereign and multinational mission
requirements. NATO does not currently own a heavy airlift
capability and frequently contracts with nations such as the United
States and Russia for assistance with its heavy airlift
requirements.
"We're looking forward to delivering the first SAC C-17 as early
as spring 2009," said Jean Chamberlin, vice president and general
manager, Boeing Global Mobility Systems. "We'll follow that with
delivery of the other two aircraft in the summer."
The SAC agreement calls for Boeing to establish a facility at
Pápa Air Base to provide C-17 logistics support under the
current C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership (GSP), a
performance based logistics contract. Boeing is currently
contracted to provide logistics support to the 194 operational
C-17s worldwide -- 180 with the US Air Force; six with the Royal
Air Force (UK); four with the Royal Australian Air Force, and four
with the Canadian Forces.
Boeing received a contract in July to provide the C-17 to Qatar,
with deliveries starting in late summer 2009.