Massive C-5M Super Galaxy Spitting Fire Is the Coolest Thing You’ll See All Day 1 Jun 2021, 8:17 UTC ·
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It doesn’t take long to be impressed with the C-5 Galaxy airplane. The Lockheed machine is described as the only (and by extension the largest) strategic air lifter in the U.S. Air Force arsenal, and it’s so large it can carry helicopters inside. About five of them at the same time. 1 photo
The first flight of the behemoth took place way back in the late 1960s, and to date, just a couple of hundreds of them have been made. As usual with such machines, there are several variants of the plane, depending on who uses them and for what.
US Air Force/Samuel King Jr.
The giant C-5M Super Galaxy released flares during a defensive countermeasures test on the Eglin range.
Flares are high-temperature heat sources used to mislead surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles heat-seekers.
A C-5M Super Galaxy, belonging to the 436th Airlift Wing, from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, was involved in a defensive countermeasures testing campaign that saw the US Air Force s largest aircraft release flares, at night, over an area of the Eglin range, Florida.
Each night, the C-5M released more than 15 flares, repeating the same operation several times, entering the area from different entry points and angles, to increase aircraft and crew combat survivability by evaluating and fielding improved defensive systems capabilities.