C-5 modernization takes first step
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The aircraft, a ‘B’ model from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., is one of two C-5 avionics upgrades to be tested before being implemented throughout the rest of the fleet. The upgrades also will be tested on an older-model C-5A, scheduled for induction into the AMP later this month.
"With the advanced avionics provided under AMP, the Air Force can meet airspace requirements anywhere in the world, and it allows us to move the warfighter and critical combat equipment faster and more efficiently," said Col. Jim "Cuda" Lynch, development system manager for the C-5 modernization program.
It's in this arena that Gen. John Handy, U.S. Transportation Command, commander in chief, and Air Mobility Command commander said the Air Force has a critical need. The 2005 Mobility Requirements Study sets the minimum airlift needed by 2005 at 54.5 million ton miles per day - compared to today's capability of less than 46 million. A ton mile, according to AMC officials, is the amount of airlift needed to move one ton of cargo, equipment or passengers one mile.
According to Handy, the C-5 modernization is one of the actions needed to bring U.S. airlift capability up to the study's recommended requirement. C-5s have carried about 46 percent of the intertheater cargo on only about 29 percent of the missions flown in Operation Enduring Freedom.
"The C-5s have been incredible work horses, bringing in huge amounts of cargo and passengers," he said.
Air Force officials said they hope to include up to 126 aircraft in the C-5 AMP, part of an overall upgrade effort managed by the C-5 Development System Office here; a support program that U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. John Jumper, said "continues to set the standard for weapon system management."
AMP includes installing the Terrain Awareness and Warning System and the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System. The Secretary of Defense directed the navigation and safety equipment be developed and implemented after U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and 34 others died April 3, 1996 in a U.S. Air Force airplane crash outside Dubrovnik, Croatia. Brown was leading a delegation of U.S. business and banking executives on a three-day economic tour of the Balkans when his plane slammed into a mountain ridge.
Lynch says the equipment has already helped avert two potential accidents.
"The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, or TCAS, has been installed and fielded on 119 C-5s - ahead of the rest of the AMP components," he said. "In two incidents, C-5 crews reported that TCAS warned them of aircraft dangerously close and directed them to maneuver to avoid collision."
Also included in the upgrades is new communication, navigation and surveillance equipment to meet the FAA's Global Air Traffic Management requirements, an all-weather flight control system, and software improvements to provide connectivity to the Mobility Command and Control System called Mobility 2000 or M2K.
The second phase of the C-5 modernization program is the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program, which depends on successfully completing AMP. The program will reduce the need for engine removals, decrease noise and emissions and increase the fleet's climb and payload capability. In addition, RERP is designed to increase reliability, maintainability and availability of the C-5 while reducing ownership costs by reducing maintenance man-hours, and the need for spare parts, officials said.
Propulsion initiatives under RERP will install new turbofan engines, pylons, thrust reversers and wing attachment fittings. Also, officials said the program will improve the aircraft's electrical, hydraulic, fuel, fire suppression and pressurization subsystems as well as auxiliary power units, air conditioning systems, landing gear and the airframe.
Lynch said the AMP and RERP programs were integrated in January to more efficiently implement the overall modernization effort.
"An integrated program allows us to do what we have always envisioned for the C-5 -- offer a single, integrated modernization effort for the fleet," he said. "We're confident these programs will perform well and we're firm in our belief that modernizing the entire C-5 fleet represents the best fiscal value for the Air Force."
Lynch pointed out that the Air Force can't afford not to modernize the fleet, saying, "With almost 35,000 cubic feet of cargo space, some warfighting equipment can only be carried by the C-5.
The entire effort to modernize the C-5 will cost about $13 billion," he added, "and continue fleet operations through 2040. Purchasing additional aircraft to replace the cargo-carrying capability of the C-5 could cost up to $38 billion." (Courtesy Air Force Materiel Command)
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