SINCE THE BOEING C-17A Globemaster III entered service with the Royal Air Force in 2001, the four leased airlifters operated by No 99 Squadron at RAF Brize Norton, have been operating at more than 200 per cent of their planned rate. After a year in service, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said the RAF's C-17 fleet had flown "just over twice the hours on which the support was modelled."

Funding for support of the fleet was modelled on a total of 3,000 flying hours per full year. The overall cost of the seven-year lease and all support equipment for the four aircraft was £750m but there are no additional lease costs associated with the increased level of flying. The squadron took delivery of its first aircraft a few weeks ahead of schedule on 23 May 2001, flown to its new home at RAF Brize Norton from the factory in the USA by the first qualified RAF crew. On arrival, the immediate task was to train the additional aircrew, engineers and support staffs but the aircraft was soon used on operational tasks. The second aircraft was collected a month later and the last two in August.

The squadron's first planned task was the pre-deployment of an advance party for Exercise Saif Sareea II in September 2001. However, the C-17 also was the obvious platform of choice to deploy to Macedonia to collect weapons, flying 13 sorties during Operation Essential Harvest in late August. These missions were flown ahead of the in service date (ISD) before the last aircraft had been delivered and with fewer than half the fully trained crews on the squadron.

Over the next three mouths 56 C-17 sorties were flown to various locations within Oman during Saif Sareea II, delivering a total of 2.73m pounds of cargo including 646 pallets and 29 helicopters. About 680 passengers also were carried. Although the squadron did not reach its full establishment until the end of the year, the C-17 aircrews logged 1,844 hours from May until the end of 2001, 140 per cent of the flying planned for the fully manned squadron. Throughout this period the squadron also was engaged in other high priority tasks as demand for the C17's capabilities grew. There were missions to north and South America, the Falklands and support for many other worldwide exercises and operations.

Operation Cyclone Change involved two sorties to transport two dismantled Tornado F.3 fighters to and from the UK to the Falkland Islands for the first time. The aircraft assigned to the RAF's 1435 Flight that provides air defence for the south Atlantic colony, previously were ferried back for heavy maintenance. The C-17 can carry engineers and equipment to prepare the Tornado to be transported that involved the removal of the wings. The two C-17 sorties did the job that would have required six Tornado F.3s, two TriStar tankers, one Nimrod SAR aircraft and a Hercules, the normal package for a two-way F.3 ferry flight to the Falkland Islands. The C-17 can carry out the mission with one refueling stop in Ascension Island. The squadron's C-17s also have been used twice to move Sea King helicopters to and from the Falklands.

Growing confidence in the aircraft and the continuing demonstration of its capabilities, have led to additional challenges. The introduction of defensive aids and an aeromedical evacuation capability required familiarization for amourers, aeromedical teams and other support staff. This forward-lookinging approach proved extremely valuable as both capabilities became essential requirements for flights to Afghanistan. By March 2002, aeromedical technicians had completed their training and all their specialist equipment had been cleared for operational use.

The effort associated with Operation Fingal in Afghanistan continued unabated until 24 August 2002 when the requirement for daily flights to Kabul ceased. About 121 flights to Kabul were completed with a total of 14.59m pounds of freight and 7,882 passengers air lifted under the Operation Fingal banner.

The threat assessment for Afghanistan was such that all approaches by RAF C-17s to Kabul had to be conducted at night. To facilitate the night approach into Kabul, No 99 Squadron developed an innovative procedure that ensured a safe descent and approach into Kabul could be achieved at night. The terrain in the proximity of Kabul, conventional methods of navigation and the area safety height would have precluded descent below 21,000ft unless visual contact with the ground could be maintained. The highly accurate, flexible and reliable navigational equipment on the C-17 lookenabled squadron pilots to fly a safe descent into a high threat theatre at night in VFR conditions. The procedure was developed such that the C-17 could be descended to 9,000ft (4,000ft agl) within a confirmed and mapped area that would guarantee terrain separation.

It is testament to the squadron's ability that the USAF has shown significant interest in this innovative use of the RAF C-17's capability to achieve the safe approach. The squadron has continued to liaise closely with the USAF to share lessons and to develop tactics and procedures. To enhance further the safety of the approach into Kabul, the squadron initiated use of hand-held night-vision goggles (NVG) to provide situational awareness (SA) in order to confirm terrain separation and to detect hostile small arms/missile fire.

The ALM also was provided with NVG and was positioned on the flight deck for the initial descent, providing a third pair of eyes to monitor terrain separation and ground-fire. Furthermore the C-17 defensive aids suite provided additional protection from MANPAD. This novel use of NVG proved the concept for the RAF C-17 and served to widen the role and capability of the squadron. Unsurprisingly, the high operational tempo had an impact on the squadron's engineers. The original engineering establishment provided for extended days but not weekend working for the majority of Operation Fingal but the squadron was operating close to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

During its deployment to Afghanistan, No 99 Squadron was involved in other activities that included leading the flypast over Buckingham Palace in celebration of the Queen's Jubilee on 4 June 2002. The squadron also provided support for several other operations and exercises such as Celtic Banner, Pond Jump West, Grand Prix and Striking Boa. This further demonstrated the enhanced capability that No 99 Squadron now provides to the services to achieve rapid strategic effect; the Services' Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) is now truly rapid. In February 2003, No 99 Squadron's hardworking C-17s were at the forefront of Operation Telic, the UK's deployment of 35,000 troops to the Middle East in preparation for another possible showdown with Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

The growing importance of the C-17 fleet has been reflected by an increase in the squadron's establishment by eight aircrew and 22 engineers. Without doubt the RAF would like to increase its C-17 fleet to at least 12 aircraft and the MoD has made some enquires about outright purchases in the future as well as extending its lease options. Its performance in the RAF has encouraged Australia to give the type serious consideration for its future heavy Airlifter (FHA) requirement worth $1.4bn.

Contenders include the An-124 and A400M but the RAAF's 10-year acquisition plan has been revised recently and its requirements are under constant review. The US and UK governments are anxious to encourage a NATO fleet of heavy lifters, and following the alliance's Prague summit in November 2002, Germany agreed to procure an airlift capability. This would take the form of up to 12 leased C-17s to be replaced as and when production A400Ms are delivered.

The C-17 also is in a head-to-head battle for Canada's strategic transport to replace the Canadian Force's five Airbus 310s and most of its ageing fleet of 32 C-130E/H transports. The requirement for at least four leased or purchased airlifters is under study and a decision is expected sometime this year. In August 2002, the US Air Force formally committed to a five-year procurement of 60 additional C-17s worth $9.7bn that will mean continuous production of 15 aircraft per year until at least 2007. The contract takes fully funded C-17 production at Boeing's Long Beach, California facility to 180 aircraft since 1997. The Globemaster II's importance was underlined during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, where it undertook its first night operations in a combat zone, its first combat air drop, its highest-altitude air drop and its longest combat mission.

The US DoD and Boeing are considering further follow-on orders to take total procurement to 222 aircraft by 2010. New production aircraft leaving the line, including the four leased RAF C-17s, have been equipped with an additional fuel tank fitted in the centre-section that has increased its range by 15 per cent. To cope with increasing the maximum take-off weight to 615,000lbs, new wheels and carbon-fibre brakes manufactured by the French Messier-Bugatti Company also have been fitted that offer greater efficiency and a longer service life compared with the original system.

Another upgrade selected for new C-17s is the CsLEOS real-time operating system developed by BAE's US arm to be used in the re-designed automatic flight-control system (RAFCS) to be fitted in production aircraft from 2004. At the time of writing, the 100th Globemaster III was being prepared for delivery to the USAF, five months ahead of schedule.