Genius US Methods to Transport Huge Tanks and Armored Vehicles

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Fluctus channel. The C-5 Galaxy is one of the workhorses of the United States military, and it's integral to moving heavy weapons and artillery like these M109A6 Paladin Howitzers. Each of these heavy weapons is 10 feet wide and 30 feet long, weighing in at around 27.5 tons. Though the C-5's ample cargo bay has more than enough space to occupy two of these monster weapons, loading them inside is no simple task. It takes multiple people working in tandem to guide the driver backward into the cargo bay, where it can be strapped down for safe transport. The C-5 Galaxy is what's known as a strategic airlifter. It's a large-scale military transport craft designed with a specialized nose cone that can open and shut for quick loading and unloading. Its immense cargo bay measures 121 feet long and 19 feet wide, allowing up to 31,000 cubic feet of storage. So depending on the cargo that we carry, it's easier to load, especially like pallets, things like that. It's easier to load from the back in our truck bed mode, is what they call it, where then once we have bigger objects like boats, helicopters, things like that, the aircraft has a special capability to where we can kneel. The aircraft will essentially lower itself to the ground, and then we can load larger cargo through the front end, such as the four helicopters that we've done today. In terms of mass, the aircraft can haul up to 281,000 pounds while traveling at speeds of more than 500 miles per hour. Despite being first introduced in the 1970s, the Galaxy remains one of the essential components of U.S. military logistics. The C-5 is one of only several planes in the world that can carry the M1 Abrams tank. These highly specialized weapons of war weigh more than 60 tons and boast a length of around 32 feet. Thanks to its impressive hauling capabilities, the C-5 Galaxy has been called upon countless times to move non-military items as well. One example is the AEHF-5, or Advanced Extremely High-Frequency Communications Satellite. These highly advanced satellites are not only large and heavy, but the equipment they contain is also susceptible and must be moved with the utmost care. Only six of them have been built, with five of them still in operation today. The C-5 Galaxy was also employed to move the James Webb Space Telescope from Houston to LAX back in 2018. This state-of-the-art telescope recently made history by providing some of the most detailed and advanced footage of our universe ever recorded. However, moving the 13,000-pound piece of equipment would never have been possible without the sheer muscle of the C-5. Despite its impressive size, the C-5 is not the most versatile cargo plane in the U.S. military's arsenal. That title would have to go to the C-17 Globemaster. Though it is around 100 feet shorter and boasts a much smaller cargo bay, the C-17 is still capable of handling payloads of up to 170,000 pounds. Strategic, transporting from theater to theater, as opposed to tactical, kind of bouncing from spot to spot within theater. So the C-17, we're able to go anywhere in the world, especially with our air refueling capability at a moment's notice. So if you think in this instance we transported the CH-53K from New River all the way out to Berlin. It too can carry a fully loaded M1 Abrams tank, though it is admittedly a much tighter fit than the C-5. Here you can see ground crews taking great care to secure the tank to the cargo bay. This prevents such a heavy weight from shifting during flight, which could affect the pilot's ability to maneuver properly. What's more important is that the C-17 is capable of operating out of much smaller, more remote airfields. Since it can land on runways that are just 3,500 feet long, it can deliver tanks like this to the front lines of almost any potential conflict. Among other things the C-17 is prized for, its ability to perform low-altitude, high-speed drops of everything from over 100 paratroopers to jeeps, armored vehicles, and Humvees. In most cases, payloads are pushed out of the rear cargo door mid-flight. Each item is packed on top of a pallet with an automatically deploying parachute affixed to it. This ensures that the chute will deploy and bring the package safely to the ground as soon as the pallet is clear of the plane. We typically fly with three pilots, two load masters in the back, which deal with all the rigging and weight balance and making sure everything's secure and that the drops go as planned and they're there to, you know, administer any backup stuff that's available to ensure we get the drops off. The C-17 set a world record by deploying an 85,000-pound jumbo test vehicle from more than 25,000 feet. The accomplishment was significant as the C-17 generally only performs airdrops with weights of up to 60,000 pounds. In fact, many special considerations had to be made to ensure the aircraft could handle the process from a structural standpoint. As a frontline transport aircraft, the C-17 is also required to carry a vast array of vehicles to and from different points. One of the most common cargo items seen aboard the aircraft are MRAPs, or mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. These heavy-duty trucks are specifically designed to withstand ambushes from improvised explosive devices. Though they can weigh up to 18 tons, MRAPs are capable of driving themselves into a C-17 cargo bay quite easily. But how do ground crews fill these massive cargo planes when they're dealing with cargo that can't simply drive itself? This is where the Halverson Loader comes in. This is a rapidly deployable mechanized lift platform capable of moving up to 25,000 pounds of cargo at once. The first Halverson Loader went into service back in 2001. It features a turning diameter of 50 feet and can move at speeds of up to 17 miles per hour. When used as a lift, the loader is capable of raising cargo as high as 18 feet into the air. Knowing how to drive a Halverson Loader properly is so essential to military logistics operations that the Air Force has even devised a special obstacle course for its ground crews to practice on. In terms of Air Force competitions, there's nothing quite like the Air Mobility Rodeo. This is a speed contest in which ground crews and air crews perform various tasks, including loading, unloading, and airdrops. The goal is to demonstrate each participating unit's capabilities while developing ways to improve procedures in the long run. This is also a multi-capable airman event to where we have maintenance personnel, we have TMO troops and ground trans personnel who actually learn what we're doing and by doing that that helps us have the community or our teams a lot smaller when we go to these places and everybody can do what everybody is doing, which logistics is a big thing. In this case, the crew is piloting a C-130 over Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, transporting various equipment including Humvees as fast as safety will allow. In the end, the U.S. military cannot function without high performance cargo planes like the C-130, C-17, and C-5. These heavy lifting aircraft are versatile, capable, and most importantly, fast. Even when fully loaded, there is no quicker way to move tanks, troops, and heavy artillery from one place to another. That's the end of this video. I hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to subscribe to this channel so you don't miss any of our new content. See you next time!