NATO Moves Forward With Agreement to Acquire Boeing C-17s

ST. LOUIS --- Boeing today announced that the NATO Airlift Management Agency (NAMA) general manager, on behalf of the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) nations, has signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the U.S. government for the acquisition of two Boeing C-17 Globemaster III long-range cargo jets.>> The agreement follows NATO's Oct. 1 announcement that the 12 SAC nations had formally agreed to move forward with the acquisition of C-17s, which will address national requirements for strategic airlift.>> "We're pleased that SAC nations are moving quickly to meet their critical needs with the C-17 Globemaster III," said Tommy Dunehew, International C-17 program manager for Boeing. "The C-17 is well-suited to meet the requirements of NATO and each of the sovereign nations, and it continues to be regarded as the backbone of international airlift missions, supporting numerous contingency, humanitarian relief, and peacekeeping efforts around the world.">> Under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense and NAMA, two of the advanced airlifters would be purchased from Boeing, while a third would be provided by the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft would be assigned to SAC's Heavy Airlift Wing and jointly operated by the nations from Ppa Air Base, Hungary.>> Each participating nation would pay for a portion of a C-17 rather than an entire aircraft, allowing them to share a pooled fleet. The 12 nations participating in the SAC Program are Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and the United States.