[This article was first published in Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin, which was then called Army Logistician, volume 2, number 5 (September–October 1970), pages 12–13. The text is reproduced as faithfully as possible to enable searchability. To view any images and charts in the article, refer to the issue itself, available on DVIDS and the bulletin’s archives at asu.army.mil/alog/.]
THE C-5A AIRCRAFT — the answer to the logistician’s longstanding need for heavy airlift capability — is being tested by the largest joint military aircraft test force in history. The year-long test at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, is called TADJET, meaning transport-airdrop-jettison. It is the task of the TADJET teams to find out if the C-5A meets its performance figures.
The Army anticipates using heavy airlift in the three strategic roles of deployment, buildup, and resupply. Standing six stories (65 feet) tall at the tail, the C-5A Galaxy is 248 feet long and has a wing span of 223 feet. It weighs almost 800,000 pounds when fully loaded and is capable of flying that load to any point in the world at speeds of over 500 miles per hour. This capability changes logistics timetables to read in hours, rather than in days or weeks formerly required for conventional surface transportation.
The C-5A is designed to deliver 100,000 pounds well over 6,000 statute miles, and it can carry twice that load 3,000 miles. Under emergency conditions, such as in war time, the Galaxy could go to maximum payload and carry 265,000 pounds almost 3,000 miles at over 500 miles per hour.
The C-5A Galaxy is also a passenger carrier. In addition to its cargo, it can transport 75 troops in a special troop compartment above the cargo area. Seat pallets, placed on the cargo floor in lieu of cargo, up the troop-carrying capacity by an additional 270 men.
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