Aircraft

The first of four C-17 strategic transports for the Royal Australian Air Force is shown during its roll out from Boeing's Long Beach production line in California last week. Boeing says the aircraft will conduct its first flight in the last week of October, ahead of its scheduled delivery to the RAAF on 28 November. Australia's C-17 fleet will be assigned to its air force's 36 Sqn at Amberley airbase in Queensland, under an A$2.2 billion ($1.8 billion) production order initiated earlier this year.