Workhorse transport planes fighting as bombers
US Army Photo
Traditionally, the Air Force’s workhorse transport planes, like the C-17 Globemaster III and MC-130J Commando II, have aided in the strategic and rapid delivery of fuel and supplies via airdrop. The big aircraft can also carry personnel.
These two types of planes were selected for the initiative because turning them into bombers required fewer modifications and training.
“The beauty of that capability is it doesn’t require any aircraft modifications,” Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, then-deputy chief of staff of US Air Force Special Operations Command, told reporters at the Air and Space Forces Association conference, which Business Insider attended at the time.
“It doesn’t require any special aircrew training. It really just takes advantage of the characteristics of that platform.”
The MC-130J can climb 28,000 feet with a 42,000 payload and has a range of 3,000 miles. Slife said the cargo plane can carry as many long-range weapons as a B-52.
“An MC-130J is the perfect aircraft for this capability because we can land and operate from 3,000-foot highways and austere landing zones whereas a bomber cannot,” Lt. Col. Valerie Knight, 352nd Wing mission commander, said in a release in November 2022.
The C-17 has a payload capacity of nearly 171,000 pounds, designed to transport armored vehicles, trucks, and trailers, as well as airdrop more than 100 paratroopers and their accompanying equipment. This plane, given its size, can carry three times as many long-range precision munitions as a B-52 bomber, according to Slife.
