Boeing delivers IAF C-17 Globemaster III

Boeing has delivered the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) second C-17 Globemaster III, a month after India’s first C-17 arrived in the country and immediately began supporting IAF operations.

This second IAF C-17 also will immediately enter service. India will receive 10 aircraft by 2014.

"Our first C-17 Globemaster III not only signifies a tremendous boost in our strategic airlift capability, but also is poised to form a major component in the IAF's modernization drive,” Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, Chief of the Indian Air Force said.

“Because it was delivered mission-ready, it soon undertook its first strategic mission to our Andaman Nicobar Command at Port Blair. I wish to place on record my appreciation to the US government, the US Air Force and the Boeing team for the timely delivery of the aircraft that makes the IAF the world's second-largest operator of the C-17 after the US."

Boeing is on schedule to deliver three more IAF C-17s this year and five in 2014. The C-17 can operate in extreme climates, transport large payloads across vast ranges and land on short, austere runways.