WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has opened industry discussions on a next-generation strategic airlift aircraft that could eventually fly with a traditional crew, operate as an optionally crewed platform, or fly fully autonomously as it replaces both the C-5M Super Galaxy and C-17A Globemaster III fleets.
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's Mobility Aircraft Directorate released a Request for Information (RFI) for the Next Generation Airlift (NGAL) program on June 12. Companies have until 5:00 p.m. Eastern on July 17 to submit white papers outlining potential concepts.
Questions from industry, answered by the Air Force in a public update posted on July 2, show the service is not limiting proposals to conventionally crewed aircraft. It is seeking an unconstrained view of future crew concepts, leaving industry free to propose everything from standard flight decks to fully autonomous operations.
The aircraft would replace two of the Air Force's largest transport fleets with a single platform. The service currently operates 222 C-17A Globemaster III aircraft, which entered service in 1995 before production ended in 2015, and 52 C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft based on airframes built between 1968 and 1989 and later modernized.
Keeping both fleets in service over the coming decades is becoming more difficult. Air Force budget documents show the C-5M mission-capable rate has fallen to 37 percent, leaving fewer than four out of every 10 aircraft available for missions at any given time.
Jessica Ruttenber, a former Air Force pilot and program manager who previously managed both the C-5 and C-17 portfolios, said the readiness figures are consistent with the aircraft's age.
"It's a grandfather jet, so it doesn't surprise me one bit," Ruttenber said.
The Air Mobility Command's Airlift Recapitalization Strategy, signed by Brig. Gen. David Fazenbaker in November 2025, projects the C-17 fleet remaining in service until around fiscal year 2075. Under that timeline, the youngest aircraft would reach roughly 80 years of service before retirement.
The Air Force is planning one replacement aircraft rather than separate successors for the C-5 and C-17.
Gen. John Lamontagne, who led Air Mobility Command while the strategy was being developed, outlined that approach during the Air & Space Forces Association's 2025 conference.
"When I say two-for-one, we're probably going to procure one aircraft. We won't get a C-5 replacement and a C-17 replacement. There'll be one airplane that does strategic airlift," Lamontagne said.
Current planning calls for NGAL to begin replacing the C-5M fleet on a one-for-one basis around fiscal year 2050, about five years later than an earlier 2045 objective. Replacement of the C-17 fleet would follow. The Air Force estimates it will acquire about 274 aircraft over roughly five decades.
If funding remains consistent and the acquisition schedule is maintained, the first NGAL aircraft could be produced in fiscal year 2038, with initial operational capability planned for fiscal year 2041.
The RFI sets several fixed design limits. NGAL must have a wingspan below 223 feet (68 meters) so it can continue using existing taxiways, hangars and parking ramps worldwide. The limit is only slightly larger than the C-5's 222.7-foot (67.9-meter) wingspan.
It must also carry at least 160,000 pounds (72,575 kilograms) of cargo and fly 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 kilometers) without aerial refueling. That exceeds the C-17's unrefueled range of 2,400 nautical miles (4,445 kilometers) while carrying a heavier payload.
Industry also asked whether the aircraft would be expected to operate from rough or unpaved airstrips and perform low-level flight profiles. The Air Force said formal requirements will depend on an Analysis of Alternatives scheduled for fiscal year 2027, but early operational assessments indicate low-level flight capability will likely be required.
The current RFI is an early step in the acquisition process. Industry responses will help shape the requirements for an aircraft expected to eventually take over the Air Force's long-range strategic airlift mission from both the C-5M and C-17 fleets.
Source: Defence-Blog.
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