 The
C-17 program modernizes the U.S. Air Force
airlift fleet with the world's most versatile, reliable and capable airlift
aircraft. The C-17 has the unique abilities to excel in both the
intercontinental strategic mission and the intratheater tactical role.
In both cases, it can deliver combat units with outsize and oversize equipment,
when needed, ready to fight, into austere locations. It is the proven
airlifter of choice.
C-17s have set 33 world records - more
than any other airlifter in history -- including payload to altitude, time-to-climb,
and short-takeoff-and-landing marks in which the C-17 took off in less
than 1,400 feet, carried a payload of 44,000 pounds to altitude, and landed
in less than 1,400 feet. These records were set during flight-testing at
Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in 2001.
In 1995, the C-17 received the prestigious
Collier
Trophy, symbolizing the top aeronautical achievement of 1994. In 1999,
President Bill Clinton presented the Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award to Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs,
maker of the C-17, for business excellence. In 2002, the C-17's assembly
facility in Long Beach, Calif., was recognized by Industry Week's Best
Plants award, for being one of the top 10 in the North America. In December
2002, the C-17 Program - and its Aerospace Support unit - won the U.S.
Senate's Productivity Award for Performance Excellence. And, in April 2003,
the C-17 Program won the first ever "Best of the Best" California Governor's
Award for Performance Excellence. |
