Dunlop Aircraft Tyres is to provide tires for all Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft. An eight-year fitment deal will see Dunlop provide new and retread tires for the C-17’s main and nose wheels. Each aircraft has a total of 14 wheels 12 on the main landing gear and two on the nose.
Boeing estimates that Dunlop will need to provide approximately 10,000 new and retreaded tires each year to support the worldwide fleet. This includes supporting aircraft operated by forces from Australia, Canada, India, NATO, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the UK. The United States Air Force, which flies more than 220 of the aircraft, is the largest operator.
Boeing’s supply chain technical lead engineer, Randy Liedahl said, “Dunlop has invested in new equipment and personnel to meet the requirements of our program. The development of the new C-17 tires went remarkably quickly from prototype to the final qualification test articles. We have completed final flight testing and have now received the first tire deliveries for our customers.”
Dunlop’s chairman, Ian Edmondson, reported, “Additional new tire and retread capacity has been added to support this important new contract and, following successful completion of the flight testing, we are now supplying tires to Boeing.” The company’s first ever tire distribution and retreading facility is now established in the USA.
