Boeing delivers second C-17 to India
Boeing delivered its second C-17 Globemaster III
airlifter to India Monday in a ceremony that included a visit from
Indian Air Force Chief Marshal Browne -- his first visit to the U.S. in
26 years.
Officials from Boeing's Long Beach assembly facility,
including Nan Bouchard, vice president and C-17 program manager, touted
the deal with India, which includes a total of five C-17s this year and
five next year.
The country became Boeing's largest foreign customer
when it endorsed a $4.1 billion deal to purchase the C-17s to help
modernize and replace India's aging fleet of Russian-built cargo planes.
The C-17s will be used in humanitarian and
disaster-relief missions. The four-engine planes, at 174 feet long and
with a 169.8-foot wingspan, are valued for their cargo capacity, their
versatility and their ability to land on remote airfields in rough
terrain.
The international order also helps to keep the
production line alive through the third quarter of 2014 and preserve the
more than 4,000 jobs in Long Beach, home to California's last aircraft
manufacturing facility, as well as thousands more on the supply chain in
44 states, officials from Boeing said.
Diminishing domestic orders of the C-17 have prompted Boeing officials to expand to foreign markets to keep
the production line going. In recent years, Boeing has delivered C-17s
to various foreign customers, including Qatar, the first Middle East
customer to order C-17s, the Royal Australian Air Force, the United Arab
Emirates Air Force and Air Defence, the United Kingdom Royal Air Force
and the Royal Canadian Air Force.
presstelegram
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