Lockheed Martin has successfully delivered the 52nd modernised C-5M Super Galaxy strategic transport at its Marietta, Georgia facility as part of the US Air Force Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP).
This final delivery completes the RERP upgrade, which first began in 2001 and extends the lifespan of the entire C-5 fleet out into distant 2040. An Air Force Reserve Command crew from the 439th Airlift Wing at Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts has now ferried the final C-5M Super Galaxy to Stewart Air Force Base, New York where the aircraft will undergo interior paint restoration. Once complete, it will be flown to Westover, joining the seven other C-5M’s assigned to the base.
RERP integrates more the 70 improvements around availability, efficiency, maintainability and reliability. Advanced modifications have been made to the airframe structure; the electrical, environmental, fuel, hydraulic and pneumatic systems; and the landing gear and flight controls.
The GE F138 turbofan engine (known commercially as a CF6-80C2L1F) will also provide 22% more thrust than the out-of-production TF39 turbofans of earlier C-5A/B/C aircraft. The new engines also allow the C-5M to meet the FAA’s Stage 4 noise reduction requirements.
“With the capability inherent in the C-5M, the Super Galaxy is more efficient and more reliable, and better able to do its job of truly global strategic airlift,” said Patricia Pagan, Lockheed Martin’s Air Mobility and Maritime Missions Strategic Airlift Director. “I am very proud of the contractor-government team than carried out the C-5 fleet modernization effort. We’ve worked very hard to ensure the C-5Ms are the absolute best strategic airlifters possible for our armed forces.”
The C-5 Galaxy has been solely operated by the US Air Force since 1970 and is the largest strategic airlifter in its fleet. The aircraft is capable of carrying two 78-ton M1A1 main battle tanks or helicopters along with other large equipment over intercontinental distances. Fully loaded, a C-5 has a gross weight of more than 800,000 pounds.
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