12-Nation Consortium Will Share Three Globemaster IIIs
Boeing recently marked a key milestone at its C-17 final
assembly facility in Long Beach -- the "major join" ceremony for
the
Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC)
consortium's first C-17 Globemaster III.
The unique SAC approach to shared use of the strategic airlifter
was hailed as a model for the future acquisition and management of
defense capabilities for NATO and European Union (EU) missions.
During major join, the C-17 airlifter's four major sections --
the forward, center and aft fuselages and wing assembly -- are
integrated, and the aircraft begins to look like a C-17 for the
first time. Hundreds of C-17 employees looked on as senior members
of SAC and representatives of the government of the Republic of
Hungary, NATO, and Boeing drove ceremonial rivets into the
aircraft's fuselage.
Hungarian Minister of Defense Dr. Imre Szekeres played a special
symbolic role in the ceremony, since Hungary has agreed to both
host the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) at Pápa Air Base, where a
total of three C-17s will be based, and to register the aircraft
under the Hungarian flag.
"SAC is a great example to see that cooperation and mutual
finance strengthen capabilities and efficiency both within NATO and
two EU countries outside NATO. It is a model for future
cooperation," said Szekeres.
"Strategic airlift is critical in responding to today's global
challenges," said Peter Flory, NATO Assistant Secretary General for
Defence Investment. "SAC1 represents a big step forward in
strengthening our ability to support NATO, EU, United Nations and
other military, humanitarian, disaster-relief, and peacekeeping
missions around the world."
The SAC1 C-17's first flight is set for June, with delivery
tentatively scheduled for early July. SAC includes 10 NATO nations
-- Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Romania, Slovenia, United States -- and Partnership for
Peace members Sweden and Finland. They will share acquisition and
operating costs for three C-17s over the nearly 30-year course of
the agreement.
As chairman of the SAC Steering Board, Brig. Gen. Richard
Johnston, US Air Force, shared his thoughts during the ceremony:
"No nation today is independent of those around it," he said.
"These two Partnership for Peace and 10 NATO nations will succeed
in bringing airlift to meet their national needs while working
together through unwavering cooperation and partnership."
"We have more than 70 airmen and families from the SAC nations
working and living in Pápa, and our personnel strength grows
each week," said the HAW's first commander, Col. John Zazworsky, US
Air Force. "With loadmasters and pilots already in training, we are
on course for multinational flight operations as planned this
summer." The colonel has been at work at Pápa Air Base since
October.
"The C-17 is the only tactical aircraft capable of performing
all SAC airlift missions, including strategic, tactical, military
and humanitarian missions, as well as brigade airdrops, aeromedical
evacuations, and landings and takeoffs from standard runways or
austere airfields," said Tommy Dunehew, Boeing International C-17
program manager. "SAC's commitment to the C-17 is yet another
example of the value the C-17 has to international customers."
Acting on behalf of SAC, the NATO Airlift Management Agency
(NAMA), led by General Manager Gunnar Borch, signed an agreement
with the US government in November for the acquisition of three
C-17s, one of which will be provided by the United States. NAMA
provides acquisition, financial and human-resources support to the
HAW, and has also been active since the fall in bringing this new
concept to life.