The largest transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force— C-17 Globemaster — made a historic landing at Arunachal Pradesh's Tuting airfield. The aircraft landed close to the Indo-China border

10 Quick facts about C-17 Globemaster:

  • India got this aircraft, which is 174 feet (53 m) long and has a wingspan of about 170 feet (52 m), in 2013. It weighs over 128 tonnes
  • The mammoth aircraft is capable of carrying a payload of 70 tonnes (77,519 kg) up to a distance of 4,200-9,000 km in a single flight
    C-17 heavy-lift aircraft
    In Picture: The first C-17 heavy-lift aircraft built for the Indian Air Force arrived at Edwards January 22.Wiki Commons/Jet Fabara
  • The aircraft is powered by four Pratt and Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofans and produces 40,440-pound force of thrust each.
  • It can achieve a cruise speed of 830 km/h
  • Operated by Number 81 Squadron IAF Skylords, the monster aircraft it is designed to airdrop 102 paratroopers and their equipment
  • Globemaster C-17, the price of which is pegged to be over Rs 2,500 crore, is used for medical evacuation, natural disasters, for deploying troops in mountainous terrains and for transporting tanks and guns
  • The IAF had earlier made a landing in Arunachal Pradesh's Mechuka on November 3, 2016
  • In the same month, the mammoth aircraft was used to transport newly minted currency notes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on November 8 to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes
    C17-Globemaster
    Globemaster C-17 can carry 70 tonnes of payload.REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
  • The historic landing at Tuting Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) was carried out by Group Captain K Rama Rao, Wing Commanders Amiya Kant Patnaik and K Trivedi and Squdron Leader L Nayak
  • The IAF has called the landing in Tuting a strategic leap in terms of Op Performance Demonstration and Tactical Air Mobility

The US has stopped manufacturing these aircrafts.

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