The nearly 40-year-old Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy is receiving cutting-edge cockpit avionics systems that meet global air traffic management requirements. This is part of a larger modernization project to keep the Galaxy flying until 2040.
The $7.7 billion contract awarded to Lockheed Martin also includes more than 70 airframe improvements and the installation of CF6-80C2 turbofan engines that will boost thrust, climb and fuel efficiency.
The first upgraded C-5M touched down at Dover Air Force Base, Del., last February. A second C5-M will undergo operational test and evaluation later this year. When this process is completed, it is expected that 49 more Super Galaxies will be produced during the next seven years.