Сборник технических текстов для домашнего чтения по английскому языку. Морозова М.А. - 37 стр.

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quirement will be met by the purchase of 25 airbus A400М."
Sir Robert Walmsley, the UK's chief of defence procurement, said "with the C-l
7 we are joining the successful partnership of the United States Air Force and the
Boeing company, and the UK is benefiting from the success of this established
management team. It is this partnering arrangement, very much in tune with smart
procurement, that has helped us conclude this complex contract within a very de-
manding timescale
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."
To ensure the smooth entry into service of the C-17, the UK's defence pro-
curement agency and the RAF have established a project team at Wright-Patterson
AFB in Ohio as part of the USAF's C-17 programme office, at the USAF's main C-l 7
base at Charleston AFB, South Carolina, and at Boeing's C-17 production centre at Long
Beach in California.
Payload potential
The UK's aircraft will be the same as those being delivered to the USAF. Each
of the C-17s will be capable of carrying a variety of heavy equipment, from a Chal-
lenger tank or three Warrior armoured vehicles to three of the British army's new
Apache attack helicopters or 13 Land-Rover light trucks.
The C-17 is powered by four Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofans
2
, with
a total thrust of 166,8001b (742.2kN, giving a maximum cruise speed of 403mph
(648km/h). The aircraft has a wing span of 169ft 9in (51.74m) and fuselage length
of 174ft (53.04m) making it the largest aircraft to see RAF service since the old Bel-
fast transports during the 1960s and 1970s.
It has a flight-deck crew of two plus one load-master, with additional seats on
the flight deck for observers or relief aircrew. It carries up to 102 troops/paratroops;
48 litter and 54 ambulatory patients and attendants; 18 pallets
3
; and a maximum pay-
load 170,9001bs (76,644kg) or 70 tons - the equivalent of ten double-decker buses.
Maintenance and spare-parts management, as well as aircrew and mainte-
nance personnel training, will be provided through foreign military sales
4
(FMS) con-
tracts with the USAF. Ground crew began training at Charleston AFB last September
and aircrew started training at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, the following month. The cost
of crew training and logistic support from the USAF is in addition to the cost of leas-
ing the aircraft from Boeing. At the end of the contract with the UK, the aircraft will
be returned to Boeing.
Concept of operations
The leasing of the C-17 is central to the UK's expeditionary warfare strategy,
with the rapid deployment of air, land and sea forces to crisis zones around the
world.
Britain's JRRF can draw on elements of each of the country's three services to
spearhead
5
intervention missions such as during the recent operations in Sierra Leone.
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timescale – временной промежуток
2
turbofans – турбовентиляторный двигатель
3
pallet – платформа для перевозки и хранения грузов
4
foreign military sales – международная военная торговля
5
spearhead – возглавлять, лидер

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