£260m deal signed to keep RAF giants flying

The Foreign Military Sale agreement will provide support for the RAF’s fleet of eight C-17A Globemaster III aircraft

Defence Minister Guto Bebb announced that a £260 million agreement with the United States Government to support RAF C-17 Globemaster III aircraft into the next decade has been signed by the MOD.

This bilateral deal will deliver spares, design services, reliability and maintenance improvements, access to technical resources, and RAF aircrew and maintenance crew training programmes.

It will sustain more than 50 jobs in the UK through the support of a Boeing team at RAF Brize Norton, the home of the UK’s C-17 operators, 99 Squadron RAF.

Defence Minister Guto Bebb said: “Our C-17 giants take everything from heavy equipment to vital troops to where they’re needed right across the globe. This deal keeps them in the air into the next decade and affirms our leadership, alongside our American allies, in providing global security and humanitarian aid as we stand together in defence of our shared values.”

Supporting troops

As part of the UK’s Joint Rapid Reaction Force, the C-17 provides the RAF with long-range strategic heavy-lift ability, meaning it can deliver equipment and supplies close to where UK troops are on operations.

Defence Equipment & Support Chief of Materiel (Air), Air Marshal Julian Young, said: “The signature of this deal has come about through the close relationship the Ministry of Defence has with our counterparts in the US, and will deliver world-leading support for the front line.

“It means the UK will be able to continue to depend on the C-17’s remarkable capabilities in support of operations all over the world.”

The new agreement, which extends and builds upon support arrangements that have existed since the C-17 came into UK service in 2001, will run until 2022. Further work will be carried out in the US at Boeing facilities in San Antonio, Texas.