Photo courtesy of the USAFOn July 27, 2011, the Pentagon announced a $26.8 million contract to Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. in Savannah, GA to buy 1 leased aircraft, in accordance with option terms of the contract. Research reveals that the plane is a C-37A Gulfstream V long-range business jet, flown under a 10-year, $477.3 million lease of 5 planes, signed in October 2000.
The USAF currently flies 9 C-37s: The 89th Airlift Wing's 99th Airlift Squadron, Andrews Air Force Base, Md., operates four C-37A's. The 6th Air Mobility Wing's 310th Airlift Squadron, MacDill AFB, Fla., operates three C-37A's. Both the 15th Airlift Wing, 65th Airlift Squadron at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, and the 86th Airlift Wing, 309th Airlift Squadron, at Chievres Air Base, Belgium, have one C-37A (see blog editor note below),
They are used as longer-range counterparts to its C-20 Gulfstream III/IV VIP jets, and include secure military communication equipment on board.
Blog Editor Note: The figures given by this article and the official USAF fact sheet are not accurate. Based on actual monitoring of radio comms and Mode-S signals, we have uncovered 11 C-37 aircraft in use by the USAF. Our inventory list follows:
Inventory of USAF C-37 Aircraft
Andrews AFB, MD (89AW/99AS)
97-0400 AE010D C-37A Venus 40/SAM c/s
97-0401 AE010E C-37A Venus 41/AF-2/Exec 1F/SAM c/s
99-0404 AE04F9 C-37A Venus 44/AF-2/SAM c/s
06-0500 AE206D C-37B Venus 65/AF-2/SAM c/s
09-0525 AE4A81 C-37B Venus 52/SAM c/s
Chièvres Air Base, Belgium (86AW/309AS NATO SACEUR)
01-0076 AE0978 C-37A Foxy 44
Hickan AFB, HI (15 Wing/65AS)
01-0065 AE10B3 C-37A
MacDill AFB, FL (6AMW/310AS)
01-0028 AE087E C-37A Flash 28/Spar 28/Spar ##
01-0029 AE087F C-37A Flash 29/Spar 29/Spar ##
01-0030 AE115E C-37A Flash 30/Spar 30/Spar ##
Ramstein AB
99-0402 AE0406 C-37A Valor ##/Spar 70