Military Transport Planes

The tanker that turned a widebody airliner into a force multiplier

The C-27J Spartan is Leonardo's twin-turboprop airlifter: 60 troops or 24,900 lb of cargo at 325 knots. Specs, cost, operators and US status.

Civil and military transport aircraft introduced in 1959

The largest turboprop powered aircraft in the world.

Military transport aircraft introduced in 1955

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III lifts 170,900 lb and lands on 3,500-foot runways. Its history, cargo hold, range, cost, operators and 2075 plan.

The Boeing C-40A Clipper is the Navy's 737-700 combi transport. See its passenger and cargo layouts, history, range and who flies it today.

The KC-135 Stratotanker first flew in 1956 and roughly 370 still serve. How the boom works, what it costs, how far it flies and what replaces it.

The KC-46 Pegasus is the Air Force's 767-based tanker that replaces the KC-135. See how its boom works, what went wrong and how many are flying.

Military transport of Convair introduced in 1950

The C-46 Commando could carry 15,000 lb, over twice a C-47's load, and flew the WWII Hump. A few still haul freight in Canada and Alaska today.

The C-124 Globemaster II, "Old Shaky," flew heavy loads for the USAF from 1950 to 1974. See how it worked, why it was slow and where survivors sit.

The Douglas C-133 Cargomaster was the USAF's only production turboprop strategic airlifter. Why it carried ICBMs, why it was called the widowmaker, and why it retired in 1971.

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain was the military DC-3: over 10,000 built, the D-Day paratroop carrier, the Hump and Berlin Airlift workhorse. Its full story.

The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was the military DC-4 that carried Roosevelt, flew the Berlin Airlift and vanished over Yukon in 1950. History, variants and survivors.

Strategic airlifter of the Douglas Aircraft Company in the 1940s

The medium transport aircraft built for tactical military and special missions.

The Embraer KC-390 Millennium is Brazil's twin-jet military airlifter. See its payload, range and speed, how it compares with the C-130, and who flies it.

The C-119 Flying Boxcar dropped a bridge at Chosin, caught a spy satellite's film in 1960 and became a gunship. Specs, variants and survivors.

C-123 Provider specs, history and variants: the Fairchild assault transport that began as an engineless glider and flew with two radials plus two jets.

The Fairchild C-82 Packet was a twin-boom USAF cargo plane built 1944 to 1948. See its history, Berlin role, Jet-Packet variants and surviving aircraft.

The legendary failed development of Howard Hughes

¥ 4.8 billion twin-engine military transport aircraft.

The Kawasaki C-2 is Japan's twin-engine strategic airlifter. See its payload, range, cost, engines, variants and how it compares with the A400M and C-17.

The C-130H Hercules is the four-engine airlifter still flown by the U.S. Guard, Reserve and many air forces. See its history, variants and status.

The C-141 Starlifter was the USAF's first jet airlifter. See how it flew Vietnam and the Hanoi Taxi POW mission, why it was stretched, and why it retired in 2006.

The upgraded giant built to carry the heaviest loads across the globe

CC-130H Hercules history and specs: Canada's search-and-rescue and tanker Hercules, retired in January 2026 and sold for firefighting.

C-130J Super Hercules explained: how it differs from the older C-130, its variants, who flies it and what the range and payload numbers really mean.

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy carries 281,000 lb of cargo over 4,800 nmi. Full guide to its variants, TF39 and F138 engines, size, and 2050 service plan.

An air to air refueling tanker since 1980.

Important heavy transport aircraft for the Germans

Military transport aircraft as of the 1940s

China’s heavy airlifter built for global reach