Afghanistan — Aussie C‑17 delivers the goods in Afghanistan

Roy­al Aus­tralian Air Force C‑17 Globe­mas­ter air­craft are used by Aus­tralian forces in the Mid­dle East Area of Oper­a­tions for heavy lift capa­bil­i­ty includ­ing the move­ment of com­bat vehi­cles in and out of the­atres of oper­a­tion as well as large freight items.

A Roy­al Aus­tralian Air Force C‑17 Globe­mas­ter on approach to Multi­na­tion­al Base Tarin Kowt. Source: Aus­tralian Depart­ment of Defence Click to enlarge	An Amer­i­can K‑Loader helps to unload large freight items from the Roy­al Aus­tralian Air Force C‑17 Globe­mas­ter air­craft at Multi­na­tion­al Base Tarin Kowt. Source: Aus­tralian Depart­ment of Defence Click to enlarge

The C‑17 has a short take-off and land­ing capa­bil­i­ty that is well suit­ed to the envi­ron­men­tal demands of Afghanistan where dirt run­ways such as the one at the Multi­na­tion­al Base in Tarin Kowt are com­mon. On 28 May a RAAF C‑17 deliv­ered two recent­ly refur­bished Aus­tralian Light Armoured Vehi­cles (ASLAV) to the 1st Men­tor­ing Task Force based in Tarin Kowt. A num­ber of large freight items were also deliv­ered on the day with the Amer­i­can K‑Loader get­ting a sol­id work­out. The K‑Loader is the Amer­i­can ver­sion of the Aus­tralian TASLU platform. 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia