Birds of Freight: World's Top Military Transport Aircraft Programs

The Aerial Heavyweights...

By: Rajat Narang

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Military Transport Aircrafts have traditionally been the logistical backbone of nations since their appearance on the military radar in the interwar years of the 20th century, as piston powered aircrafts, which ruled the skies through the end of World War II. The post-war era witnessed the rise of turboprops powered airlifters followed by their turbofans powered cousins which have supplemented them on airlifting missions in the jet age. These versatile, mighty flying fortresses have been carrying out an array of strategically significant missions ranging from Strategic Airlift (focused on Troops & Cargo Transportation) to Tactical Airlift, ISR & other Electronic Warfare Missions to Aerial Refueling and Humanitarian Aid & Relief Operations.

A number of legendary military airlifters have been produced & fielded in the post-war world with the most iconic of them undoubtedly & unanimously being the Lockheed Martin's C-130 Hercules tactical airlifter, which holds the distinction of being one of the longest running & continuously in-production aircraft program in the history of military aviation, having been in continuous production for over 6 decades while also being a part of the elite league of iconic military aircrafts which also includes the B-52 BUFF Strategic Bomber and the KC-135 Aerial Refueling Tanker.

This work is intended to be a ready reference on the World's Top, in-production Military Transport Aircraft Programs.

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Aircraft Programs included:

1. Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules/C-130J Super Hercules
2. Embraer C-390 Millennium
3. Airbus A400M Atlas
4. Kawasaki C-2
5. Ilyushin Il-76