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The United Kingdom’s RAF has confirmed that it has entered into a deal with Boeing Defence UK for prolonged and enhanced C-17 Globemaster training, expected to be valued at £274 million over 19 years.
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The UK’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the Royal Air Force has entered into an agreement with Boeing Defence UK for the delivery of training courses for C-17 Globemaster operators for the next 19 years at the International Training Centre (ITC) in Farnborough, with the agreement valued at £274 million.
The agreement will continue the delivery of the aircraft’s flight simulators, with enhancements to the schedule of training from 2023. Boeing Defence UK has also agreed to provide simulated engineering coaching for RAF trainees who hope to maintain the C-17 Globemaster.
UK Defence Minister Jeremy Quin confirmed that the training package with Boeing Defence UK will help to modernise the RAF.
“Ensuring we have a modernised Armed Forces capable of tackling future threats begins with access to world-class training for all of our personnel,” Minister Quin said.
“This £274 million investment will allow our air crews to operate this aircraft to its highest capability and maintain critical defence outputs and will extend our use of modern synthetic training techniques.”
Air Commodore David Manning, Air Mobility Force Commander, outlined that the package will improve the RAF’s use of the C-17 Globemaster.
“This new synthetic training service will provide assured aircrew and maintainer training through to the out of service date of the C-17. The training service will support C-17 global operations, increasing fleet availability and enhancing the training delivered to our personnel through the introduction of cutting-edge synthetic training equipment,” he said.
“With this service, the RAF will enter a new phase of UK optimised C-17 training, while working with our industry partner to promote UK prosperity and the generation of UK based jobs.”
The announcement of the £274 million package has followed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement in November 2020 to increase the UK’s defence budget by £24 billion over four years.
According to a release from the Ministry of Defence, the C-17 Globemaster is expected to continue playing a critical role in the UK’s RAF capabilities until 2030, with the aircraft capable of transport 45 tonnes a distance of 8,300 kilometres.
[Related: Army to receive new Boeing-built deployable SATCOMs]
