Boeing said on Monday it had secured a contract from the United States Air Force to modernise the flight deck of the C-17A Globemaster III, a move aimed at keeping the heavy-lift transport aircraft operational and mission-ready for decades.

In a press release issued on Feb 9, the US aerospace group said the programme covers the design, manufacture, integration, qualification, and military certification of a new cockpit for the C-17A fleet. The upgrade will replace ageing avionics and mission-critical equipment with a modern, modular open systems architecture, allowing faster and more cost-effective introduction of new capabilities.

Boeing said the modernised flight deck is intended to address avionics obsolescence and support the US Air Force’s requirement to keep the aircraft viable through at least 2075. The open architecture design will enable “plug-and-play” enhancements as technologies evolve.

“The C-17A has been the backbone of global air mobility for over three decades,” Travis Williams, Boeing’s vice president for US Air Force Mobility and Training Services, said in the statement. He added that the roadmap would support both US Air Force requirements and those of international operators by preserving the aircraft’s performance and efficiency.

The C-17A Globemaster III is a strategic airlifter used for troop transport, cargo delivery, and humanitarian missions. Boeing delivered a total of 275 aircraft between 1993 and 2015, with 222 supplied to the US Air Force and 53 to international partners, forming what the company described as a closely integrated global support network across nine countries.

Boeing said the latest contract underscores the long-term role of the C-17A in global air mobility and reflects continued investment by the US Air Force in sustaining key platforms through incremental modernisation rather than fleet replacement.

Source: Boeing Press Release