    Military Airlift: Comparison of C-5 and C-17 Airfield Availability
    (Letter Report, 07/11/94, GAO/NSIAD-94-225).

    The Air Force has greatly overestimated the number of airfields
    worldwide that can accommodate the wide-bodied, C-17 cargo plane; when
    runway strength is considered, the C-17's wartime advantage over its C-5
    predecessor shrinks from 6,400 to about 900 airfields. The C-17
    advantage dwindles even further when only airfields that have been
    determined by the Air Force to be suitable for military operations are
    considered. So far, the Air Force has surveyed about 2,800 airfields as
    suitable for military operations. When wartime landing requirements,
    including minimum runway strength, are considered, the C-17's wartime
    airfield advantage is 145. When airfields in the United States, Canada,
    and Mexico are excluded, the C-17's wartime advantage falls to 95
    airfields. Although the Air Face claims that the C-17's ability to land
    at small, austere airfields during wartime is a significant military
    advantage, the Defense Department has identified only three such
    airfields that the C-17 would use in major regional contingency
    scenarios; two are in Korea and one is in Saudi Arabia.

    --------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

     REPORTNUM:  NSIAD-94-225
         TITLE:  Military Airlift: Comparison of C-5 and C-17 Airfield
                 Availability
          DATE:  07/11/94
       SUBJECT:  Defense contingency planning
                 Military airlift operations
                 Military aircraft
                 Defense capabilities
                 Strategic mobility forces
                 Military bases
                 Operations analysis
                 Military systems analysis
                 Airborne operations
    IDENTIFIER:  C-17 Aircraft
                 C-5 Aircraft
                 Korea
                 Saudi Arabia
                 DOD Mobility Requirements Study

    ************************************************************************

    We regret that the full text of this item is presently unavailable.

    See the GAO FAQ - Section 2.0 for printed copy ordering information.
    The FAQ is automatically retrieved with all WAIS search results or
    can be obtained by sending e-mail to: info@www.gao.gov