US Air Force chooses C-17A, C-130 instead of C-5M for Kabul evacuation

The US Air Force (USAF) used Boeing C-17A Globemaster III and Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules platforms instead of its Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy airlifter for its evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan, despite the C-5M being the largest aircraft in the USAF's fleet.

A Boeing CH-47F Chinook is removed from the cargo area of a Lockheed C-5M Galaxy at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina on 18 June 2021. The USAF used C-17As and C-130s for its evacuation of Kabul instead of the C-5M, despite the Super Galaxy being the largest aircraft in the USAF's fleet. (US Air Force)

USAF spokesperson Major Hope Cronin said on 25 August that C-17As and C-130s were used to airlift evacuees to intermediate staging bases. Air Mobility Command preferred to floor load roughly 400 passengers per C-17A to maximise the number of evacuees it airlifted from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, she said. There may have been case-by-case exceptions where other configurations were made. However, the priority was placing as many passengers aboard as it could safely and efficiently move out of Karzai airport, she added.

In some cases, other aircraft such as the McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender and the C-5M were used to transport evacuees from intermediate staging bases to the United States in tandem with recently activated Civil Reserve Air Fleet partner aircraft. Maj Cronin said other USAF aircraft used in the effort include the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and the KC-46A Pegasus tanker-transport platforms.