First IAF C-17 Arrives At Indian Base

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has contracted for ten C-17 airlifters for $4.12 billion, which will make the IAF the largest C-17 operator other than the US Air Force which operates 224 of these airlifters. Boeing is required to deliver the first five C-17s this year, and the remaining five in 2014.

The IAF is pushing for an additional six C-17s, which would provide a lifeline to the C-17 production line at Long Beach, California, which creates some 5000 jobs at Long Beach and another 17,000 elsewhere in the US. According to current plans that line will be shut down by end-2014 after building India’s ten C-17s and the US Air Force’s last seven aircraft.