C-17 Globemaster

GAO found that the C-17 Globemaster aircraft accomplished everything it was asked to do while it was deployed in Bosnia. In particular, the C-17 was used to satisfy the Army's need for a high-capacity, short-distance air transport to move troops, equipment, and outsize cargo. However, the aircraft was not called upon to perform many tasks that it has had difficulty doing, or did not do, during testing. These include several tasks that the Army considers important, such as landing on short, wet runways of about 3,000 feet; performing airdrops of both troops and equipment; or handling routine medical evacuations. At the end of fiscal year 1996, the Pentagon had spent $20.5 billion to develop and purchase 28 C-17s; it plans to buy a total of 120 C-17s at an estimated cost of $43 billion.

GAO found that: (1) during Operation Joint Endeavor, the C-17 accomplished the airlift tasks required of it, as did other airlifters such as the C-141, the C-5, and the C-130; (2) the C-17 was used to satisfy the Army's immediate need for a high-capacity, short distance air transport to move troops, equipment, and outsize cargo from central Europe into the Bosnia area of operations; (3) the C-17 performed about 26 percent of the deployment airlift missions and carried about 44 percent of the cargo moved during the deployment; (4) the C-17 also performed a limited number of strategic airlift missions in which it delivered cargo from the continental United States to final destinations in Germany, Hungary, and Bosnia; (5) according to contractor reports, the C-17 achieved a mission capable rate of 86.2 percent during the December 1995 through February 1996 time frame compared to a required rate of 81.2 percent; (6) transportation needs of the Bosnia deployment did not offer the opportunity for any airlift aircraft to perform or demonstrate several operational roles and missions; and (7) consequently, the C-17 was not required to perform many tasks which it had trouble doing, or did not do, during operational testing.