{"id":32437410,"date":"2026-11-12T10:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T09:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/strategic-airlift-explained-c-17-c-5-an-124-craf-payload-range\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T10:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T09:36:33","slug":"strategic-airlift-explained-c-17-c-5-an-124-craf-payload-range","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/strategic-airlift-explained-c-17-c-5-an-124-craf-payload-range\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategic Airlift Explained: How an Army Crosses an Ocean by Air"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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The crew decided to take off with the aircraft packed full. The first count, made on buses after landing in Qatar, came to around 640 people. When the Air Force added the children who had sat on adults&rsquo; laps, the figure rose to 823.<\/p>\n\n<p>According to Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine, that broke the C-17&rsquo;s previous record of 670, set evacuating Tacloban after Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2012. A C-17 configured for large passenger loads normally carries about 300. A recording of the radio exchange that night captured a controller trying to take the number in.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;How many people do you think are on your jet? Eight hundred people on your jet? Holy cow. OK. Hey, well, good job getting off the ground.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Air traffic controller<\/strong> &mdash; Radio exchange with REACH871 out of Kabul, as reported by Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine, August 2021<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Reach 871 became the image of the Kabul airlift. But the flight itself was the visible tip of a much larger machine: the system that lets a country move an army, or a city&rsquo;s worth of evacuees, across an ocean by air. That system is called strategic airlift.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Strategic airlift:<\/strong> Moving troops, vehicles and materiel over long distances between theatres, as opposed to tactical airlift within one<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Main types:<\/strong> C-17 Globemaster III, C-5 Galaxy, An-124 (largely by charter); A400M sits between tactical and strategic<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>C-17 payload:<\/strong> Up to 164,900 lb (about 75 t) according to Boeing<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Payload-range:<\/strong> C-17: more than 6,200 nmi with no payload; roughly 2,400 to 2,800 nmi unrefuelled with 160,000 lb<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>CRAF:<\/strong> About 450 airliners committed in 2021-2022 (changes monthly); three stages, 24 to 72 hours to respond<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>CRAF activations:<\/strong> Three: Desert Shield\/Storm (1990-91), Iraq, and the Kabul evacuation (Stage I, 22 August 2021, 18 aircraft)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>C-17 record:<\/strong> 823 people on REACH871 out of Kabul, 15 August 2021<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Strategic versus tactical<\/h2>\n\n<p>Military airlift comes in two kinds. Tactical airlift moves people and supplies within a theatre of operations, typically with turboprops such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/c-130-hercules\/\">C-130 Hercules<\/a> that can land on short, rough strips and drop loads by parachute. Strategic airlift moves vehicles, materiel and troops over long distances between bases that are nowhere near each other, bringing forces into a theatre from the other side of the world.<\/p>\n\n<p>The line between them is blurrier than it used to be. The C-17 was designed to do both: Boeing describes it delivering large equipment, supplies and troops directly to small, austere airfields anywhere in the world, combining long-range haul with short-field performance. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/a400m-atlas\/\">Airbus A400M<\/a> sits deliberately in between, carrying loads too large for a C-130 while still using rough strips, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/kc-390-millennium\/\">Embraer C-390<\/a> works mostly at the tactical end. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/kc-390-vs-c-130j-vs-a400m-tactical-airlifter-comparison\/\">comparison of the C-390, C-130J and A400M<\/a> sets out what their makers actually publish.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/c-5m-super-galaxy-nose-open-iwakuni-2025.jpg\" alt=\"A US Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy with its nose raised for loading, with cargo pallets on the ramp at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A C-5M Super Galaxy of the 22nd Airlift Squadron from Travis Air Force Base opens its nose to load cargo at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, in November 2025. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brian Long \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Connecting_the_globe-_A_C5M_Super_Galaxy_lands_at_MCAS_Iwakuni_(9398858).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikimedia Commons, public domain<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The heavy end of the fleet<\/h2>\n\n<p>At the top of the scale sit the outsize lifters. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/c-5-galaxy\/\">Lockheed C-5 Galaxy<\/a> gives the US Air Force heavy intercontinental strategic airlift and can carry outsized and oversized loads, including all air-certifiable cargo. Its cockpit sits well above the cargo deck so that loads can go in through a nose door, and the modernised C-5M carries new General Electric engines fitted under the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program that began in 2006.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Soviet answer was the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/antonov-an-124\/\">Antonov An-124 Ruslan<\/a>, which bears many external similarities to the C-5, including a double fuselage that allows a rear cargo door to open in flight, and a nose that opens for loading. In the West it now works largely through charter, which is how European air forces have long bought outsize lift, as explained in our pieces on <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/antonov-airlines-volga-dnepr-an-124-charter-salis-leipzig\/\">the An-124 charter business<\/a> and on <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/why-nothing-can-replace-the-antonov-an-124-ruslan\/\">why nothing can replace it<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7J8ay9Pxpqs\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Smithsonian Channel on the way cargo is loaded into a C-5 Galaxy.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Payload against range<\/h2>\n\n<p>Every airlifter lives on one trade-off. Maximum takeoff weight is fixed, so every kilogram of fuel taken on board is a kilogram of cargo left behind. Carry the heaviest load and the range shrinks; fly the longest leg and the load shrinks. Planners read it off a payload-range chart, and it decides how many aircraft a deployment needs and where they must stop.<\/p>\n\n<p>The C-17 shows the spread. Boeing says it carries up to 164,900 pounds, about 75 tonnes, and can fly more than 6,200 nautical miles with no payload. With a load of 160,000 pounds the unrefuelled range falls to roughly 2,400 nautical miles for the first 71 aircraft and about 2,800 for later ones fitted with an extra centre wing tank. Air-to-air refuelling, which the C-17 can take, is what turns a chain of fuel stops into a direct flight.<\/p>\n\n<p>That is why strategic airlift is a network rather than a fleet. It needs tankers, en-route bases and permission to overfly. Operation Nickel Grass in 1973, when C-5s and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/c-141-starlifter\/\">C-141s<\/a> flew a lifeline to Israel via the Azores, is the classic case; we have told that story in <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\/\">Nickel Grass: The Airlift That Saved Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/antonov-an-124-antonov-airlines-calgary.jpg\" alt=\"An Antonov Airlines An-124-100 with its nose visor raised and loading ramp lowered on a wet ramp at Calgary\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An Antonov Airlines An-124-100 with its nose raised at Calgary in 2011. Like the C-5, it can load through the nose and the rear. Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Antonov_An-124_(Antonov_Airlines)_(6098824435).jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RAF-YYC \/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The airline reserve<\/h2>\n\n<p>Even the US Air Force does not own enough aircraft for a big war. The gap is filled by the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, CRAF, created at the start of the 1950s as a direct result of the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift, when civilian aircraft had been pressed into service in an ad hoc way. Airlines volunteer aircraft by contract with US Transportation Command; in return they get preference for the military&rsquo;s peacetime passenger and cargo business.<\/p>\n\n<p>The terms are strict. For the international segments a carrier must commit at least 40 percent of its CRAF-capable fleet, the aircraft must be US-registered, and it must provide four complete crews for each one. In 2021 and 2022 the commitment stood at about 450 aircraft, a figure the Air Force says changes monthly. Activation comes in three stages, sized for a regional crisis, a major theatre war and national mobilisation, with carriers given 24, 48 or 72 hours to have aircraft ready depending on the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/16V7VjRmxBY\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Pilot and YouTuber Juan Browne (blancolirio) explains the Civil Reserve Air Fleet on the day of its 2021 activation.<\/p>\n\n<p>Activation is rare. The first came for Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991, the second for the Iraq war. The third was Kabul. On 22 August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin activated Stage I, asking for 18 aircraft: three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air, two from Hawaiian Airlines and four from United Airlines.<\/p>\n\n<p>Those airliners never flew into Kabul. They moved evacuees onward from staging bases such as <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-bases\/ramstein\/\">Ramstein Air Base<\/a> in Germany and the bases in the Gulf, freeing military aircraft for the dangerous leg in and out of Afghanistan. Under CRAF the carriers keep their civil status under FAA rules while Air Mobility Command exercises mission control.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/craf-airliner-reforger-1980-ramstein.jpg\" alt=\"US Army troops walking down the stairs of a chartered Boeing 747 airliner at Ramstein Air Base during exercise Reforger 1980\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Troops of the 502nd Supply and Transportation Battalion arrive at Ramstein Air Base by Civil Reserve Air Fleet airliner for exercise Reforger in 1980. Department of Defense photo \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Troops_of_the_502nd_Supply_and_Transportation_Battalion_arrive_by_a_Civil_Reserve_Air_Fleet_aircraft_to_participate_in_the_exercise_Reforger_1980_-_DPLA_-_67de74692fd2e15feb92263d7d12aa4b.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikimedia Commons, public domain<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The Pentagon&rsquo;s announcement of that activation put the dependency plainly.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;[The Department&rsquo;s] ability to project military forces is inextricably linked to commercial industry, which provides critical transportation capacity as well as global networks to meet day-to-day and contingency requirements.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>US Department of Defense<\/strong> &mdash; News release on the CRAF activation, 22 August 2021 (via Air Force Times)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Moving an army is a logistics problem<\/h2>\n\n<p>Strip away the drama and strategic airlift is arithmetic. Count the tonnes, divide by what each aircraft can lift over the distance, add the tankers and the stops, and you know how many sorties a deployment needs. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/united-states-air-force\/\">US Air Force<\/a> runs that sum every day with C-17s, C-5s and tankers, and in a real crisis it calls in the airlines.<\/p>\n\n<p>Even the routine legs had their stories. On 21 August 2021 a C-17 flying as Reach 828 landed at Ramstein with an Afghan woman in labour, and medics from the 86th Medical Group delivered her baby girl in the cargo bay, as Air Mobility Command shared.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"max-width:550px;margin:0 auto 28px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1429221286341980163&theme=light\" style=\"width:100%;height:620px;border:none;overflow:hidden\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Reach 871 was not planned. It happened because a crew looked at a loaded aircraft and a deteriorating airfield and decided the numbers worked. Everything that made the rest of the Kabul airlift possible, from the staging bases to the CRAF airliners carrying people onward, had been planned for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sources: Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine, Air Force Times, The War Zone, Boeing (C-17 Globemaster III), US Department of Defense, Air Mobility Command<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<p class=\"mf-photo-credits\" data-no-translation style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin:6px 0 18px\">Header photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:A_U.S._Air_Force_C-17_Globemaster_III_is_readied_for_loading_on_the_tarmac_at_Ellsworth_Air_Force_Base,_S.D._121102-F-HK400-403.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zachary Hada \/ Wikimedia Commons, public domain<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What is strategic airlift?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Strategic airlift is the use of military transport aircraft to move troops, vehicles and materiel over long distances, typically between bases in different theatres or continents. Tactical airlift, by contrast, moves supplies within a single theatre, usually with turboprops such as the C-130 that can use short, rough airstrips.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which aircraft are used for strategic airlift?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The main strategic airlifters are the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and the Antonov An-124 Ruslan, which Western nations mostly use through charter. The Airbus A400M sits between tactical and strategic roles, carrying loads too large for a C-130 while still using rough strips.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How much can a C-17 carry?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Boeing says the C-17 Globemaster III carries up to 164,900 pounds, about 75 tonnes, and can fly more than 6,200 nautical miles with no payload. With a 160,000-pound load the unrefuelled range is roughly 2,400 to 2,800 nautical miles, depending on the aircraft, and air-to-air refuelling extends it.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the Civil Reserve Air Fleet?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) is a US programme under which airlines contractually commit aircraft to support Department of Defense airlift in emergencies. Carriers commit at least 40 percent of their CRAF-capable international fleet with four crews per aircraft, and in return get preference for peacetime military business.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many times has CRAF been activated?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Civil Reserve Air Fleet has been activated three times: for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991, for the Iraq war, and on 22 August 2021 for the Afghanistan evacuation, when Stage I called up 18 airliners from six carriers to move evacuees onward from staging bases.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many people were on the C-17 Reach 871 out of Kabul?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The C-17 with call sign REACH871 carried 823 people out of Kabul on 15 August 2021, a record for the type. The first count of around 640 left out the children sitting on adults&rsquo; laps. The previous C-17 record was 670, set evacuating Tacloban after Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2012.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is strategic airlift?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Strategic airlift is the use of military transport aircraft to move troops, vehicles and materiel over long distances, typically between bases in different theatres or continents. Tactical airlift, by contrast, moves supplies within a single theatre, usually with turboprops such as the C-130 that can use short, rough airstrips.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Which aircraft are used for strategic airlift?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The main strategic airlifters are the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and the Antonov An-124 Ruslan, which Western nations mostly use through charter. The Airbus A400M sits between tactical and strategic roles, carrying loads too large for a C-130 while still using rough strips.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How much can a C-17 carry?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Boeing says the C-17 Globemaster III carries up to 164,900 pounds, about 75 tonnes, and can fly more than 6,200 nautical miles with no payload. With a 160,000-pound load the unrefuelled range is roughly 2,400 to 2,800 nautical miles, depending on the aircraft, and air-to-air refuelling extends it.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the Civil Reserve Air Fleet?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) is a US programme under which airlines contractually commit aircraft to support Department of Defense airlift in emergencies. 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The previous C-17 record was 670, set evacuating Tacloban after Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2012.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\/\">Nickel Grass: The Airlift That Saved Israel<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/why-nothing-can-replace-the-antonov-an-124-ruslan\/\">Why Nothing Can Replace the Antonov An-124<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/kc-390-vs-c-130j-vs-a400m-tactical-airlifter-comparison\/\">KC-390 vs C-130J vs A400M: What the Makers Actually Publish<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/william-tunner-berlin-airlift-hump-black-friday-airlift-general\/\">William Tunner: The General Who Made the Berlin Airlift Work<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<!--mfcred1-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the record Reach 871 flight out of Kabul to the airline reserve the Pentagon can call up: how strategic airlift works, from payload-range to CRAF.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":32437214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32437410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Strategic Airlift Explained: C-17, C-5 and CRAF | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Strategic airlift explained: how the C-17, C-5 and An-124 move 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