page_title: Lockheed C-5 Galaxy
section_title: Restarted production and development
hierarchical_section_title: Lockheed C-5 Galaxy / Development / Restarted production and development
caption_attribution_description: English: A C-5M Galaxy sits in a depaint hangar at Warner Robins ALC, where workers have masked the seams, composite areas and antennas in order to spray on stripper to remove the paint from the aircraft. C-5Bs are undergoing Avionics Modernization Program and Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program upgrades, modifying them to C-5M Super Galaxys.
context_page_description: The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft originally designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsized and oversized loads, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many similarities to the smaller Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and the later Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. The C-5 is among the largest military aircraft in the world.
  The C-5 Galaxy's development was complicated, including significant cost overruns, and Lockheed suffered significant financial difficulties. Shortly after entering service, cracks in the wings of many aircraft were discovered and the C-5 fleet was restricted in capability until corrective work was completed. The C-5M Super Galaxy is an upgraded version with new engines and modernized avionics designed to extend its service life beyond 2040.
  The USAF has operated the C-5 since 1969.
context_section_description: In 1974, Iran, then having good relations with the United States, offered $160 million (equivalent to $829 million today) to restart C-5 production to enable Iran to purchase aircraft for their own air force, in a similar climate as to their acquisition of F-14 Tomcat fighters. However, no C-5 aircraft were ever ordered by Iran, and the prospect was firmly halted by the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
  As part of President Ronald Reagan's military policy, funding was made available for expansion of the USAF's airlift capability.  With the C-17 program still some years from completion, Congress approved funding for a new version of the C-5, the C-5B, in July 1982, to expand airlift capacity. The first C-5B was delivered to Altus Air Force Base in January 1986. In April 1989, the last of 50 C-5B aircraft was added to the 77 C-5As in the Air Force's airlift force structure. The C-5B includes all C-5A improvements and numerous additional system modifications to improve reliability and maintainability.
  In 1998, the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) began upgrading the C-5's avionics to include a glass cockpit, navigation equipment, and a new autopilot system.  Another part of the C-5 modernization effort is the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP). The program replaced the engines with newer, more powerful ones.
  A total of 52 C-5s are contracted to be modernized, consisting of 49 B-, two C- and one A-model aircraft through the RERP. The program features over 70 changes and upgrades, including the newer General Electric engines.  Three C-5s underwent RERP for testing purposes. Low-rate initial production started in August 2009 with Lockheed reaching full production in May 2011; 22 C-5M Super Galaxies have been completed as of August 2014. RERP upgrades were completed on 25 July 2018. The Air Force received the last modified aircraft on 1 August 2018.
  As of 2014, Lockheed is investigating drag reduction by plasma-heating of turbulent transonic airflow in critical points, saving overall weight by reducing fuel consumption. The Air Force Research Laboratory is looking at shape-memory alloy for speed-dependent vortex generators.
caption: A Galaxy undergoing the AMP and RERP upgrades, to become a C-5M
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