US Air Force, WASHINGTON: The Air Force reached a milestone last month in the effort to modernize its C-5 Galaxy fleet.
View Pictures here: C-5A/B Galaxy (USA)
A successful test of newly-mounted C-5 engines occurred Jan. 21 at a Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Ga. The test was part of the C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program, or RERP, said Col. John Brunderman, Air Force mobility division chief for global reach programs.
“They were able to start the engines, show that the electronics worked, show the thrust reverses deployed, run it up to full power and control the engines,” Colonel Brunderman said. “That is a very significant milestone that demonstrates to us that the technical risk in C-5 RERP is pretty low. From this point on, it is some very minor adjustments and tweaks.”
The RERP is the second part of a two-phase C-5 modernization program helping the aircraft achieve a mission-capable rate of at least 75 percent during wartime. During the RERP, a C-5 is fitted with more efficient General Electric F138-GE-100 engines.
The aircraft also receives approximately 70 other modifications, which increases its reliability, the colonel said. Eventually, 112 C-5A, C-5B and C-5C model aircraft will go through the two-phase upgrade.
Before a C-5 goes through RERP, it must first go through the Avionics Modernization Program, also known as AMP. This program overhauls the C-5 flightdeck and prepares the aircraft to receive the more modern engines.
“AMP puts a digital backbone into the aircraft,” Colonel Brunderman said. “It replaces a lot of legacy analog dial systems that are no longer supportable and are getting unreliable and puts them into a digital format. AMP also allows the aircraft to interface with the digital controls on the new engines that come in the RERP phase.”
The Air Force has 15 C-5s that have completed or are in the process of receiving AMP modifications. Three of these are currently being modified to the RERP configuration at Lockheed Martin
