Pragathi Surface-to-surface missiles :

Yet another massive leap for India.
The new tactical surface-to-surface missile, Pragati is out! It has a range of about 60-170km!
The Pragati was developed from the Prahaar missile developed by DRDO. India is currently exhibiting Pragati in the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition in South Korea.

Pragati Missiles are gonna be offered to friendly countries. These missiles are capable of carrying warheads weighing about 200 kgs. Pragati Missiles are about 7.4 meter in length and 0.42 meter in diameter. The Pragati missile uses the Thrust Vector Control (TVC) during the boost phase and electromechanical actuator (EMA) system for remaining flight trajectory. It has an accuracy of CEP < 20 meters and has a flight time of 120 - 360 seconds. The Pragati Missiles are at Exhibition ADEX-2013 held at KINTEX, Seoul, South Korea from 29th Oct - 3 Nov 2013.

 

Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is a United State's aircraft build with a vertical takeoff and landing ( VTOL ) and Short takeoff and landing (STOL ) capability. The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is a multi-mission, tilt rotor aircraft designed by the United States Department of Defense, Join-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental aircraft program which was started in 1981.
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey was designed to support as a conventional helicopter and also as a long-ranged aircraft with high-speed cruise performance.

The Bell Helicopter team and the Boeing Helicopter team joined together in this project and produced the magnificent Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey.

The first Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey flew in 1989 and difficulties of being the first tilt-rotor for military service led to many years of development.
The U.S.Marine Corps started crew-training for Osprey in 2000 and finally fielded it in 2007.
The U.S.Air Force fielded their Osprey (With slight modifications) in 2009.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey has been used in combat and rescue operations in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.

A Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey consists of a pilot, a copilot and two flight engineers or crew chiefs. Total of 4 crew members.
A Bell Boeing V-22 supports 24 troops (If seated) and 32 troops (Floor loaded).
It supports 9,000 kg of internal cargo and 6,800 kg of external cargo.
The V-22 Osprey weighs 15,000 kgs and the maximum takeoff weight of it is about 27,400 kgs.
An Osprey can reach a maximum speed of 500 kmph at sea level and 560 kmph at 4,600 meters.
Cruise Speed of an Osprey is about 277 mph.
Combat Radius  : 722 km.
Service Ceiling : 7,620 m.
Rate of Climb : 4,000 ft/min.
An Osprey is equipped with an M240 Machine Gun or 12.7 mm M2 Browning Machine gun on ramp and .308 inch GAU-17 minigun, belly-mounted, retractable and video remote controlled.

Lockheed Martin :

Marillyn Hewson, C.E.O. of Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed Martin is a global aerospace company with worldwide interests which was formed with the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta.
Lockheed Martin deals in aerospace, defence and security.

cLockheed Martin earns 74% of it's revenues from military sales and 7.1% from funds from the Pentagon.
Lockheed Martin has received the Collier Trophy six times.
Headquarters of the Lockheed Martin is at Bethesda, Maryland in Washington Metropolitan Area.
It employs over 120,000 people worldwide.
Marillyn Hewson is the current president and C.E.O. Ms.Hewson was also appointed by the President of the United States, Barack Obama to the President's Export Council which is the most important national advisory committee on international trade.

Lockheed Martin operates in five business segments :
1)Aeronautics.
2)Information Systems.
3)Global Solutions.
4)Missile and Fire Control.
5)Mission Systems and Training.

Lockheed Martin topped the list of US Federal Contractors in the years 2008, 2009.
Lockheed Martin is currently developing the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
The deal for the merger between Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta was finalised on 15th of March, 1995.

The most prominent Lockheed product is the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, a fifth-generation fighter jet.
Lockheed Martin is the only manufacturer of Fifth-Generation fighter jets, the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II.

F-22 Raptor 

Presidential Transport (United States of America) :

The President of the United States of America travels in a variety of transport-vehicles.
The most prominent vehicle used for the transportation of the president of the United States of America is the Boeing 747, Air Force One.

Air Force One the call sign of the Boeing 747 aircraft used to transport the president.

Apart from Air Force One, the President also owns a helicopter with the call sign, Marine One.

The President also owns a limousine which is heavily armoured.

Air Force One and Limousine 

World War II :

World War II was actually started by the invasion of Poland by Germany under the leadership of the dictator, Adolf Hitler.

Adolf Hitler was appointed as the Chancellor of Germany on 30th of January, 1933 by the aged president, von Hindenburg.
After the death of Hindenburg, the power of presidency fell into the hands of Hitler and he gained dictatorial control over Germany.
At the same time, King Victor Emmanuel III invited Benito Mussolini and his Fascist Party to form a government in 1922.  On the 16th of March, 1935, The Treaty of Versailles was violated by Hitler. It states that the German Army shouldn't exceed 100,000 men. But, with the re-armament programme, it exceeded the count. Allied Powers did nothing to stop Germany.
Without any oppositions, Hitler marched his army into Rhineland on 7th of March, 1936.

Germany and Russia, the biggest dictatorial countries of Europe decided to sign a non-aggression pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) on August, 1939.

Attack on Poland : 
 Britain and France guaranteed military support to Poland if it was attacked by Germany.
After the pact with Joseph Stalin, dictator of Russia, Germany attacked Poland.
Russia and Germany attacked Poland from two fronts.
Poland managed to get an army of 1,000,000 soldiers up for battle.
The advanced Germany Air Force, Luftwaffe, were 10 times more powerful than the Polish Air Force and thus, Poland fell quickly. 
With the attack on Poland, France and Britain declared a war on Germany.
Thus, World War II began.

After the invasion of Poland, Russian forces invaded Finland.

War finally meets West : 

In the May of 1939, Italy and Germany established the Pact of Steel which led to the Rome-Berlin Axis.
Germany invaded Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
This was known as the lightning war

Great Britain Stands Alone : 

After invading those countries, Germany attacked France at Meuse River where fortifications were constructed after World War 1. Germany broke through the fortifications using tanks and plans.
With France almost on the verge of defeat, Italy joined the war and attacked France.
On the 14th of June, German forces entered Paris.
France was divided into two zones. One under leadership of Germany and the other one under the Petain government.(Marshal Philippe Petain was France's World War I hero)

With France down, Great Britain stood alone against Germany, Russia, Italy and her allies.

War with Great Britain : 
Great Britain was protected from German Army by the English Channel.
Germany couldn't attack from the sea because of the large British Navy.
The German's decided to bomb Britain extensively. This operation was dubbed as Operation Sea Lion. The Royal Air Force was equipped with fighters like "Spitfire" and "Hurricanes" which were one the best jets at the time and they proved as a massive advantage to the British.
The Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force fought which eventually led to the defeat of Luftwaffe. With Germany defeated once, Britain had a hope for survival.
Without proper defences and financial problems, Britain requested for support from the United States. Franklin D.Roosevelt, president of the United States agreed for the land-lease bill.

War with Russia : 
Germany decided to attack Russia, her own ally because her large area would prove advantageous to them. Hitler sent about 3,000,000 men consisting of 150 divisions into Russia.
The German Force increased by 30 more divisions from Finland and Romania.
The initial days of the war proved advantageous to Germany. They cornered large number of Russia troops and killed them. But, Joseph Stalin, using the massive size of his country kept sending his troops to defend themselves from the oncoming German army.
Germans advanced till Moscow but couldn't move any further because of the lack of supplies.
Much of Russia was lost to the war.


United States joins the War : 

Japan waged a war on China and occupied most of her territories.
United States froze the Japanese assets and set an embargo on the supplies of oil to Japan.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in Hawaii which took the life of about 2,300 United State's troops and destroyed the major Navy base of United States.
With the attack on Pearl Harbour, United States entered the war.
United States with it's advanced planes and military equipment joined Great Britain.

The joined forces of US and Britain re-occupied most of the North African territories by defeating Italian and German forces.

Battle of Stalingrad : 

On the other side, without proper food and medical supplies, most of the German army was on the verge of death.
And, with the pushing Soviets, the battle of Stalingrad was fought.
The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the fiercest battles ever fought.The D-Day : 
The Allied Powers launched a massive invasion over the German occupied areas on the 9th of June,1944. About 156,000 British, American and Canadian soldiers were dropped onto France. On the other side, Soviet troops advanced onto Poland, Hungary, Romania and Chezchoslovakia.
Hitler prepared all his troops to push back the American and British forces.
This led to the battle of Bulge.

Surrender of Germany : 

Germany formally surrendered on May 8th because the Russians have occupied most of Germany.
Hitler commited suicide on 30th of April in his Berlin bunker to avoid being captured by the Soviets. 
Thus, World War II ends.

Allied Powers : 

1. Great Britain.
2. France.
3. United States.
4. Russia (After Germany invaded it) 
5. Canada.
6. Australia. 
7. Brazil. 
8. South Africa
9. Newfoundland.

Axis Powers : 

1. Germany.
2. Italy.
3. Japan.
4. Russia (Before Germany invaded it) 
5. Bulgaria.
6. Hungary.
7. Romania.
8. Chezchoslovakia.

Adolf Hitler :

Adolf Hitler : Adolf Hitler was born in Austria. He was the leader of the Nazi Party and the chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and was also the dictator of Germany from 1934 to 1945.He was known as Führer und Reichskanzler. Germany was known as Nazi Germany under the rule of Hitler. Adolf Hitler was responsible for World War II.

Adolf Hitler.

Hitler's signature.

But, he also served in World War I as a veteran. Hitler was once imprisoned because of a failed coup.  During his imprisonment, he wrote his book "Mein Kampf" which meant My Struggle and was regarded as the Nazi Bible.  Hitler was released in 1924 and he gained support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles (Treaty written by victors of World War I) and by promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism and anti communism. He directed the rearmament of Germany opposing the Treaty of Versailles.He invaded Poland in September 1939 which resulted in the outbreak of World War II.

Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, Germany and her allies occupied most of Europe and North Africa.
His antisemitic policies and racially motivated ideology led to the death of about 5.5 million Jews and millions of other people who were treated as "Racially inferior" by him and his followers. Hitler committed suicide on 30th of April, 1945 to avoid being captured by the Red Army. 

National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) :

National Security Agency : The NSA is one of the largest U.S. intelligence organizations.
The NSA is also the main producer and manager of signals intelligence for the United States of America.
It operates under the jurisdiction of the DoD (Department of Defense) and reports to the Director of National Intelligence.
The NSA is one of the largest organizations not only in terms of power but also in terms of personnel and budget.

Flag of NSA

Headquarters of NSA

Seal of NSA.

The main task of NSA is to monitor, collect, decode, translate and analyse information and data for foreign intelligence and counter-intelligence globally. Another prominent task of the NSA includess surveillance of targeted individuals on the United States. It is the job of the National Security Agency to protect the United States Government communications and information systems.
NSA handles a lot of data! Because of this reason, NSA is the largest consumer of electricity in Maryland.
NSA is said to have more than 40,000 employees.



Central Intelligence Agency : The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is one of the main intelligence agencies of the United States Government. The CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is the only independent U.S. intelligence agency.
The principal activities of CIA are gathering information about foreign Governments, corporations and individuals and analyzing the gathered information to provide national security intelligence assessment to United States policymakers.
The CIA also carries covert activities and tactical operations by it's employees or by the U.S. military.
The headquarters of CIA is in Langley, Virginia.
The CIA was formed during the World War II.

Flag of CIA.

Seal of CIA.

Headquarters of CIA.

F-18 Super Hornet

The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is carrier-based multirole fighter with twin-engines which is based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.
It was originally designed and produced by McDonnell Douglas.
It first flew in 1995 and the full-rate production began in September 1997 after McDonnell Douglas and Boeing fused the on the August of 1997.
It first entered the US Navy in 1999, replacing Grumman F-14 Tomcat.
Grumman F-14 Tomcat retired in 2006.
The Royal Australian Air Force ordered the F/A-18F Super Hornets to replace it's aging F-111 fleet.
They were recieved in December 2010.
Mc.Donnell Douglas first marketed Super Hornet's as Hornet 2000.
The Super Hornet has considerably larger wing and a longer fuselage and more powerful engines.
The McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II program was made to replace the Grumman A-6 intruder and LTV A-7 Corsair II but it ran into serious problems and was cancelled.As an alternative to the A-12 Avenger II program, McDonnell Douglas proposed the Super Hornet which was initially Hornet II.

Currently, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and United States Navy are the only users of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

The F/A-18E supports 1 Crew Member.
The F/A-18F supports 2 Crew Members.
Length : 18.3 meters.
Height : 4.8 meters.
Wing Area : 500 square feet.
Max. takeoff weight : 21,320 kg.
Fuel Capacity  for F/A 18E (Internal) : 6,780 kg.
F/A 18F : 6,354 kg.
Fuel Capacity External : 5 x 480 Gal tanks i.e., 7,381 kg.
Maximum Speed : Mach 1.8 ( 1,915 kmph )
Ceiling : 15,000 meters.
Range : 2,346 km plus two AIM-9's.
Combat Radius : 722 km for interdiction missions.
Ferry Range : 3,330 km.
Rate of climb : 228m/s.

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is equipped with a 1x20 mm M61 Vulcan nose mounted Gatling Gun consisting of 578 rounds.
It's got 4 x AIM-9 sidewinder missiles.
And, 2 x AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.
It's equipped with 5 sets of Air-to-surface missiles : 
1)AGM-65 Maverick.
2)AGM-84H/K Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Range (SLAM-ER)
3)AGM-88 HARM Anti-Radiation missile.
4)AGM-154 Join Standoff Weapon (JSOW)
5)AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)

It's equipped with 2 sets of Anti-Ship missiles.
1)AGM-84 Harpoon
2)Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM).

A F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is equipped with 
1)Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Precision-guided muntion (PGM's)
2)Paveway series of laser-guided bombs.
3)Mk 80 series of unguided iron bombs.
4)CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition.
5)CBU-78 Gator.
6)CBU-97 Sensor Fused Weapon.
7)Mk 20 Rockeye II.

Destroyers

A destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship which is mainly used to escort larger vessels in a fleet of ships or a battle group and also used to defend them agains't smaller and short-ranged attackers.
Destroyers evolved in response to the threat posed by torpedo boats to capital ships. Growing from earlier developments, the first official designation of "Torpedo boat destroyer" as a recognised class of warship.
By the 21st century, destroyers are the heaviest surface combatant ship in general use with just three countries operating heavier class cruisers and no one operating battle ships.
The three nations which have heavier class cruisers are : United States, Russia and Peru.
Modern Destroyers are known as guided missile destroyers which are equivalent in tonnage but vastly superior in firepower to cruisers of World War II.Modern Destroyers are capable of carrying nuclear missiles.
The biggest destroyer is the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers which are more heavily armed than the previous ships classified as guided missile cruisers due to their massive size and armament which is over 90 missiles.

1) Arleigh Burke-class destroyers :
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers (DDG's) is US Navya's first class of destroy built around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. It was named for the Admiral Arleigh Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of WW2 and later Chief of Naval Operations.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers were designed to fit the Anti-Aircraft Warfare.
They're equipped with their powerful Aegus RADAR and anit-aircraft missiles, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), with their towed sonar array, anti-submarine rockets and ASW helicopter, ASUW (Anti-surface warface) with their Harpoon missile launcher and a strategic land strike using Tomohawk missiles.
The Arleigh Burke class is planned to be the third most numerous class of destroyers to serve in the US Navy after Fletcher and Gearing classes.
The US Navy has 62 vessels of the Arleigh Burke- class guided missile destroyers.
They have a length of about 505 feet to 509 feet, displacement ranging from 8,315 to 9,200 tons and weaponry including over 90 missiles.
They're larger and heavily armed when compared to the previous ships classified as guided missile cruisers.

2)Izumo-class destroyer :

Officially labelled as a destroyer, it has a flat top which will function as a flight deck for helicopters. The vessel has been criticised as a thinly veiled attempt to boost the country's military capabilities.
Japanese officials have insisted that the ship will be used to assist humanitarian missions and large scare evacuations following events like the 2011 tsunami.
It hasn't been officially named but dubbed as Izumo after the armoured cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy which was sunk in an air attack in 1945. Length of the Izumo-class destroyer is about 820 feet and a displacement of 27,000 tons. Maximum speed is 30 knots and it has a crew of 970 people.
Armament includes 14 helicopters and anti-submarine warfare.

The Pentagon :

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defence.It is located in the Arlington County, Virginia designed by the American architect George Bergstrom and built by the general contractor John McShain of Philadelphia.The size of the Pentagon is about 6,500,000 sq.ft of which 3,700,000 sq ft are used as offices.

The Pentagon holds about 28,000 military and civilian employees and about 3,000 non-defense support personnel. The Pentagon, like it's name is a five-sided building with five-floors above ground and two basement levels and give ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 mi of corridors. It includes a five-acre central plaza which is shaped like a pentagon and informally known as "ground zero", a nickname given during the Cold War based on the presumption that the Soviet Union would target one or more nuclear missiles at the central location in the outbreak of a nuclear war.

The Pentagon is one of most highly guarded building of the United States of America.Yet, It was once attacked.
On September 11, 2001 (Exactly sixty years after the building's groundbreaking) , A boeing 757-223, American Airlines Flight 77, was hijacked by the terrorists and crashed into the western side of the Pentagon, killing about 189 people of which 125 people were in the building.

The Pentagon is not just a building but actually a city. It holds a drug store, a police department, and a fire-fighting squad. The Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) is a United States govt. agency composed of sworn federal police officers of the United States Pentagon Police and civilian CBRN technicians and non-sworn civilian anti terrorism investigative and physical securtiy personnel and is also responsible for the protection of the Pentagon. The Department of Defense created PFPA after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Air Force One

Air Force One is the official air craft for the President of the United States of America.
In other words, the official Presidential Aircraft of the United States used prominently for transporting the president.

The Presidential Air craft came to be known as Air Force One after an incident during which a flight carrying the President Dwight D. Eisenhower entered the same airspace as a commercial airline flight using the same sign.
Two Boeing 707's have been used as the Presidential Fleet introduced in the 1960's and 1970's.
Since the 1990's, the Presidential fleet has consisted of two Boeing VC-25A's specically configured, highly customised Boeing 747 -200B series air craft. On 11th of October, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt became the first United States to travel in an aircraft but Franklin D.Roosevelt was the first president of the to fly in an air plane while in the office.

The first aircraft obtained specifically for presidential travel was a Douglas Dolphin amphibian delivered in 1933, designated as RD-2 by the US Navy.The "Air Force One" is known to be the most sophisticated air craft ever built.
The Air Force One is a militarised version of a Boeing 747 which is about six stories high and longer than the White House! The Air Force One is big enough to hold 70 passengers with 26 crew.

It holds an office for the president and also a conference room so that he can interact with the members of Congress or the other heads of the state during a journey.The Air Force One is handled by the United States Air Force.

But, the most sophisticated air-plane ever built was once threatened.
In 1999, while transporting Bill Clinton from Athens to the United States, a voice over the radio claimed about a bomb being on the plane which will explode in five minutes. This lead the secret services to move the passengers to the front of the plane and the bags to the back of the plane and the voice on the plane was counting back from 5 and ended the message by telling " I hope you all die ". But, nothing happened and the remains of the voice is a secret.

But what many people don't know is that the Air Force One has a twin. 

Yes, you've heard it right.
There are actually two flights with the designation "Air Force One" which are used by the president of the United States to avoid detection.
He is always known to switch flights during journey to avoid trouble.

Air Force One Defences :
1) The Air Force One is equipped with an Anti-Nuclear defence system. It is eqipped with an electro-magnetic skin which will ward off waves from a nuclear attack.
2) Infrared Missile and RADAR jamming system.
3) In air re-fueling.
4) It can deploy flares so that the heat-seeking missiles will be re-directed towards the flares.
5) Air Force One can also call in fighter jets to escort it if the enemy over-powers it.
*The Air Force One defences given here are based on sources in the web.*

M1 Abrams ( Tank )

The M1 Abrams is an American third-generation battle tank of the United States.
The M1 Abrams is named after the former Chief of Staff and Commander of U.S. military forces in Vietnam War, General Creighton Abrams.
The M1 Abrams is a highly mobile tank which is designed for modern armoured ground warfare.
It is equipped with a powerful gas turbine engine which is multifuel capable, but usually fuelled with JP8 jet fuel and a seperate ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety and also a sophisticated composite armor. It weighs around 68 short tons and is one of the heaviest main battle tanks in service.
The M1 Abrams entered the U.S. service in 1980 replacing the M60.
It served for over a decade alongside the improved M60A3.
The M1 currently serves not just the US Army and Marine Corps but also Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Iraq.
The M1 Abrams has three main versions : the M1, M1A1 and M1A2 which have improved armaments, protection and electronics. The M1A3 is currently under development.

	M1	M1IP	M1A1	M1A2	M1A2SEP
Produced	1979–85	1984	1986–92	1992 on
Length	32.04 ft (9.77 m)
Width	12 ft (3.7 m)
Height	7.79 ft (2.37 m)		8.0 ft (2.4 m)
Top speed	45 mph (72 km/h)		41.5 mph (66.8 km/h)		42 mph (68 km/h)
Range	310 mi (500 km)		288 mi (463 km)	243 mi (391 km)
Weight	61.4 short tons (55.7 t)	62.8 short tons (57.0 t)	67.6 short tons (61.3 t)	68.4 short tons (62.1 t)	69.5 short tons (63.0 t)
Main armament	105 mm M68 rifled		120 mm M256 smoothbore
Crew	4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)

Transport Helicopters

Bell UH-1 Iroquois.

Bell UH-1 Iroquois.

Bell UH-1 Iroquois.

Boeing C-17 Globe Master

Boeing C-17 Globe Master

Bell UH-1 Iroquois :The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Also know as Huey because of its name "HU-1") is a military helicopter powered by a single turbo shaft engine with a two-bladed main rotor and a tail rotor. The helicopter was developed by the Bell Helicopter to meet the United States Army's requirement for medical evacuation and also as a utility helicopter in the 1950's.
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois first flew on 20th of October 1956. The Bell UH-1 Iroquois was the first turbine-powered helicopter to enter the production for the US Military and more than 16,000 Bell UH-1 Iroquois have been produced worldwide.The Bell UH-1 Iroquois served first for the U.S. Army during the U.S.-Vietnam War. Around 7,000 UH-1 air crafts were used in the U.S.-Vietnam War.
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois has a 2 X 7.62 mm M60 Machine gun or two 7.62 mm GAU-17/A machine guns, 2 X 7-round or 19-round 2.75 rocket pods, A 2X7.62 mm Rheinmetall MG3 and 2 x .303 Browning Mk II.


Boeing C-17 Globemaster : The Boeing C-17 Globemaster : The Boeing C-17 Globe Master is a seriously large military transport aircraft. It was developed for the USAF by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries the name of two previous piston-engined military cargo aircraft, the Douglas C-74 Globe Master and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. The C-17 commonly performs strategic airlift missions, transporting troops and cargo throughout the world and also tactical airlift, medical evacuation and airdrop duties.The Boeing Company merged with McDonnell Douglas in the 1990's but continued to manufacture C-17's for export customers. The C-17 is operated largely by the USAF, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, NATO Heavy Airlift Wing and India.

The Indian Air Force selected C-17 to fulfill its Very Heavy Lift Transport Aircraft requirement. In January 2010, the US Government received a request from India for 10 C-17's through the United States's Foreign Military Sales Programme which was approved by the Congress of the United States. The total cost of the ten C-17's is US$ 4.1 billion and the AIF are planning to add six more C-17's to the order which will make IAF the second-largest C-17 Operator. The C-17's are operated by the No.81 Squadron Skylords. Currently, the only three C-17's recieved by Boeing are in the Skylords Squadron.Skylords can use the C-17's to transport heavy equipment to support the 4,000 Indian troops deployed in the Congo as Indian Army United Nations peacekeeping missions.