Boeing on July 21 signed a contract with Qatar for C-17 military airlift planes. The cmpany did not reveal how many of the long-range troop and cargo aircraft were ordered. Deliveries will begin from its Long Beach, Calif.-based C-17 factory in summer 2009.
The government of Qatar's purchase of the C-17 Globemaster III airlifter will provide "new strategic-airlift mobility capabilities" for the Qatar Armed Forces (QAF), Boeing said. Qatar will sign a foreign military sales agreement for contractor logistics support with the US Air Force, it said.
"Boeing is pleased that Qatar joins its international partners -- the US Air Force, the UK Royal Air Force, Canadian Forces and the Royal Australian Air Force -- in selecting the C-17, the world's leading airlifter, to modernize its defense forces' airlift fleet," said Jean Chamberlin, general manager of Boeing's Global Mobility Systems.
Boeing has sold 175 C-17s to the U.S. Air Force and is on contract to deliver 190. The company said there are 189 C-17s in service worldwide: 175 in the U.S., six in Britain, four in Canada and four in Australia.
The C-17, capable of intercontinental flight and landing on short, poorly equiped runways, is used for both military and humanitarian missions.The huge transport aircraft can be refueled in flight.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
