Military Transport Aircraft

With the global nature of warfare today airlift is fundamental for delivering food, ammunition, vehicles and equipment into conflict zones. On this page you’ll find everything you need to know about the airforces’ transport aircraft and rotorcraft large and small.

RAF adapts BAe 146 CC3s for medical use

The Royal Air Force (RAF) has announced that a pair of BAe 146 CC3 tactical transports – operated by No 32 (The Royal) Squadron from RAF Northolt in west London – have been modified to provide a medical mission.

A400M gains Automatic Low-Level Flight Certification

Airbus’ A400M heavy-lift tactical transport has achieved another milestone after the platform gained certification of its Automatic Low-Level Flight capability.

RAF Chinooks pass flight hour milestone in Mali ops

British CH-47 Chinook HC5 heavy-lift tactical transport helicopters deployed in Mali, West Africa, have flown more than 2,000 operational flight hours in support of French-led counterinsurgency missions.

Airbus delivers masks to Spain to aid COVID-19 crisis efforts

An Airbus A400M has delivered critically needed masks to Spain as part of an effort to combat the COVID-19 virus.

Thumbnail Feature Premium

Israel's Workhorse at 50!

Combat Aircraft Journal reports on the CH-53 Yas’ur, which marked a half-century of service with the Israeli Air Force last October.

Thumbnail Feature Premium

400,000 Hours for Hohn's Transalls

The C-160D Transall transports of Lufttransportgeschwader 63 have been stationed at Hohn air base, north of Hamburg, for more than 51 years. Alexander Golz visited them in their penultimate year of operations.

Thumbnail Feature Premium

From Architect to Aviator

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Air Transport Auxiliary and the debut of its women pilots...

BelugaXL Begins Service

EUROPEAN AEROSPACE giant Airbus has pressed the BelugaXL into service.

Lockheed Martin to deliver 50 more C-130Js to US

The US government has contracted Lockheed Martin to deliver 50 more C-130J Super Hercules heavy-lift tactical transport aircraft.

Thumbnail Feature Premium

A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY - Air Transport Auxiliary

A world of opportunity was how the late Lettice Curtis described flying as a ferry pilot for the Air Transport Auxiliary.

The larger transport aircraft emerged in the 1930s and World War II drove their development as the United States fought two wars, in Europe and in the Pacific, and the United Kingdom fought in Europe, North Africa and the Far East. The United States Army and the RAF operated the Douglas C-47 Dakota transport for troops and cargo during World War II; the US Airforce did not exist until September 1947.

Like many of the military transport aircraft used at the time, the C-47 was a version of a civilian airliner. Even today this is true, the Airbus A330 airliner has a military multirole, refuelling, tanker and transport version that is used by a number of airforces including the RAF, the French Armee de l’air and the Republic of Korea Airforce.

The Cold War saw the fixed wing transport anfmd its helicopter equivalent developed to meet the global reach of the superpowers’ confrontation. In the 1950s and 1960s, the RAF flew the Blackburn Beverley C. Mk 1 which at the time was the RAF’s largest aircraft, with a wingspan of 162 feet and powered by four 2,850-hp Bristol Centaurus turboprops.

In the Vietnam war, the helicopter became a major transport asset and the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, also known as the Huey, was the primary troop carrier in the field. Historically the Russians have built the largest transport helicopters. Their Mil Mi-26 is the world’s largest transport helicopter, it can carry 20 metric tonnes of cargo or vehicles and entered service in the early 1980s; a few years after the start of the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan.

Stay up to date with the latest Military Transport Aircraft News

In this section you will be able to read the latest transport aircraft news, whether it is about the in-development Russian Ilyushin IL-112V light troop transport, or the Airbus A400M Grizzly, currently used by the French military. The modern-day transport fixed wing aircraft began in the 1950s when the United States Airforce (USAF) bought the Lockheed Martin C-130, which does not need a paved runway. It can transport troops, provide medical evacuation and vehicle transport, and updated versions are operating today with a large number of militaries.

The USAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster entered service in the 1990s for cargo transport with a 77 metric tonne payload capacity more than triple the C-130, but it is the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy that is the largest transport aircraft in the USAF fleet. Entering into service in the 1970s, the Galaxy carries helicopters and ground vehicles. Its current version is the Super Galaxy, C-5M, with a maximum payload of 127 metric tonnes. The last of the 52 C-5s upgraded to this latest type were delivered to the USAF in 2018. Russia’s heaviest transport aircraft, the Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan, entered service in the 1980s, has a 120 metric tonne capacity and still operates today. China began operating its heavy lift aircraft, the Xian Y-20 Kunpeng in 2016.

In the 21st Century the Boeing Bell V-22 Osprey tiltrotor entered service with the US Marine Corps (USMC) as a troop carrier with a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability. Smaller aircraft for troop deployment includes the US special forces’ Boeing MH-6 Little Bird helicopter, used for delivering troops into the heart of combat zones. The USMC will be the first to receive the US military’s most capable transport helicopter, which enters service in the next few years, the Sikorsky C-53K King Stallion. It is the successor to the Super Stallion and can carry 12 metric tonnes.

From heavy lift VTOL to tiltrotors and new and old fixed wing strategic long-range transports, all the latest news about these logistics machines can be found on this page.

Discover other types of Military Aircraft

Find out more about Military Aircraft News, Military Aircraft Technology, Military Aircraft Shows or Military Fighter Aircraft.

Subscribe to Key.Aero

Become a part of our aviation community and subscribe to Key.Aero now. Receive exclusive military aviation content as soon as it leaves the editor's desk to read whenever you want and on any device, with access to all the latest aviation updates, news, events and more.