15 BIGGEST Military Planes in the World

refueling plans combat aircraft and cargo haulers are some of the largest planes in the world they play a vital role in the military from a logistics and strategic perspective so join me for today's video as we take a look through the 15 biggest military planes ever developed number 15 tupolev tu-160 first entering service in 1987 The soviet-built tupolev tu-160 Remains the largest and heaviest combat aircraft to ever be built it's a supersonic strategic bomber with the ability to travel at speeds in excess of double the speed of sound and while doing so it's able to carry almost a hundred thousand pounds or 45 000 kilos of Ordnance it's operated by a four-person crew when it's 177 feet long it's got a wingspan that measures 182 feet and it's powered by four Samara nk-321 after burning turbofan engines which give it a maximum speed of about 1380 miles an hour over a range of up to 7 600 miles without in-flight refueling since they first went into production 36 tu-160s have been built and they remain in service in the Russian Air Force after undergoing significant upgrades in recent decades the new program of construction began in 2022 that plans to build 50 modern versions the tu-160m that will replace the older stock and provide Russia's heavy bomber capability at least until 2040. other variants are also in the planning process which shows how adaptable this design is such as the tu-160sk which will be able to launch commercial satellites and the tu-160r which will be a long-range reconnaissance craft number 14 Lockheed Martin c-130j super Hercules designed by Lockheed Martin the c-130j super Hercules is the most recent iteration of the company's successful Hercules aircraft and first entered service in 1999. since then more than 500 of them have been built and they're used by the air forces of the United States the United Kingdom Italy and 19 other countries measuring 97 feet long with a wingspan of about 132 feet it's mainly used as a military transport aircraft that has space inside for either 92 passengers 6 pallets or three Humvees even an m113 armored personnel carrier with a three-person crew the c-130j is powered by four Rolls-Royce turbo prop engines that each drive a six-bladed reversible pitch propeller this allows the craft to travel at a top speed of about 417 miles an hour over a range of up to 2100 miles with a cargo weight as much as 42 000 pounds it is seen as a highly reliable aircraft c-130j has been used in virtually all military campaigns conducted by the us over the past 20 years and with them still being built and delivered to customers around the world they'll continue to be in operation at least until the middle of this century number 13 Antonov an-124 designed and built by the Ukrainian Antonov design Bureau in the mid-1980s when first entering official service in 1986 the Antonov an-124 is the largest military transport aircraft that's currently in operation anywhere in the world it requires a six-person crew which include a pilot co-pilot Navigator two flight engineers and a radio operator as well as two loadmasters it has a capacity of 88 passengers as well as up to 170 tons of cargo the giant aircraft is 226 feet long and it's got a wingspan that measures 240 feet it's powered by four progress High bypass turbofan engines it's got a cruising speed of 537 miles an hour over a range of 2300 Miles when it's holding its maximum payload it's got a double fuselage which allows for there to be a cargo door on the lower part that can open during flight without affecting structural integrity and it's said to be surprisingly light on the controls considering its size eyes of course with the huge weight of a fully loaded an-124 its landing gears were custom designed and featured 24 wheels and each plane even has its own overhead crane to assist with loading number 12. McDonald Douglas kc10 extender the main limiting factor to how long an aircraft can stay airborne is of course how much fuel it can hold but rather than having to land at an air base to refuel there's another option the McDonald Douglas kc10 extender is a type of aerial refueling tanker that's used by the United States Air Force and it's become a vital component of mobilization of military forces it's a military version of the DC-10 airliner measuring 181 feet long and with a wingspan of about 165 feet powered by three General Electric turbofan engines that give it a top speed of 538 miles an hour and a range of up to 4 400 miles with added tanks that allow it to carry 356 000 pounds of fuel it uses a Centerline refueling bomb as well as a drogue and hose system that's installed on the starboard side towards the rear of the plane to connect with aircraft mid-air and perform the refueling it's also able to carry 17 pallets and 75 passengers which makes it an effective transport option too so it's no wonder this is have been an important support craft ever since it was first introduced in 1981. Number 11. the xc99 was designed by convair in the late 1940s and was first introduced in 1949 as a new heavy cargo aircraft for the United States Air Force at 182 feet long and 230 feet across the wing it was the largest piston engine transport aircraft to have ever been built its design was based upon the B-36 Peacemaker bomber but with a vastly expanded internal capacity that allowed it to carry up to either 400 people or a hundred thousand pounds of cargo fitted with six Pratt and Whitney 28-cylinder radial piston engines with three bladed Pusher propellers it's got a top speed of 307 miles an hour and a range of 8 100 miles despite Grand hopes for the project and a potential civilian version as well only one was ultimately constructed and it remained in service for eight years and carry supplies around the world and it was also guaranteed to turn heads wherever it went the Air Force however soon decided that there was no longer a need for such a huge craft so no others were ordered and the civilian version was canceled too when potential customers realized how much fuel and oil was required to fly it and then it had no chance of being economically viable number 10 Shunk cy9 created by the shunksy aircraft company on behalf of the people's Liberation Army Air Force of China the y9 is a media military transport aircraft but since its introduction in 2012 has become an important part of the Chinese military transportation capability powered by four wojiang turboprop engines that drive six-plated propellers it's got a top speed of 410 miles an hour and a range of about 1400 Miles when it's carrying a maximum payload of 30 tons the cargo bay is large enough to transport 106 passengers 132 paratroopers or two zbd-03 combat vehicles but it can be further adapted for larger loads if the mission requires it's still relatively early on in the y9's lifespan so only around 30 of the aircraft have been delivered a design freeze to control costs was imposed which means no further developments of this particular craft are planned which means it's most likely being seen as a stepping stone toward a Brand New Concept that will be introduced in the coming years number nine Airbus a400m developed as an adaptable aircraft that can be used for transport aerial refueling and as a Tactical Air lifter the a400m atlas was designed by Airbus and first entered service for the French Air Force in 2013. now it's also used by the German Spanish and UK Air Forces primarily and six other countries around the world as well at 148 feet long and with a wingspan measuring 139 feet it's powered by four Euro prop turboprop engines that drive eight-bladed variable pitch propellers to give it a cruising speed of 485 miles per hour over a range of up to 2 300 miles when carrying a full payload of 41 tons specifically designed to be able to use short soft Landing strips it can carry for example two light armored vehicles or a patriot missile system or 116 fully armed troops it can be reconfigured to act as an Airborne refueling or as an emergency medical evacuation craft when needed and because it's so easy to alter to fit Mission requirements 111 of them already been built and delivered to customers featuring a full glass cockpit and flight systems that have been adapted from the A380 it's made mainly from Composite Materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic and unusually has two propellers on each Wing that rotate in the opposite direction to one another that allows it to generate more lift and therefore take off in a shorter distance number eight B-52 strata Fortress in the late 1940s the U.S Air Force realized there was a need for a long-range jet-powered strategic bomber and turned to Boeing for a new design the result of the ensuing project was the B-52 strato Fortress and it would prove to be so successful that they're still in use today more than 65 years after being first introduced in 1955. able to carry nuclear weapons as well as more traditional Ordnance the B-52 is 159 feet long and has a wingspan measuring 185 feet it's an enormous aircraft that's powered by eight Pratt and Whitney turbofan engines and it's able to reach a top speed of 650 miles per hour over a combat range of 8 800 miles originally they were armed with an m61 Vulcan Cannon although these were later removed and in their Bays they're able to carry seventy thousand pounds of bombs missiles and mines they are the largest bomber aircraft that have ever been created by the U.S Air Force and have been involved in every military operation inducted by the country since the 50s 744 of them were built in total and those that remain have recently undergone significant upgrades they're gradually being replaced by newer aircraft but it's expected that some B-52s will still be operating by the 2050s number seven Kawasaki C2 first officially entering service for the Japanese air self-defense force in 2016. the C2 was created and manufactured by the Kawasaki Aerospace company it's a long-range high-speed military transport aircraft that was designed to replace the Aging C1 model now the plans are for 22 to be delivered for domestic use with hopes that it will be sold abroad as well it's operated by a three-person crew it's 144 feet long it's got a wingspan of 145 feet it's also powered by two General Electric turbofan engines and it's able to achieve a top speed of 570 miles per hour over a range of up to 4 700 miles it's a substantial upgrade compared to the C1 with the ability to carry more than four times the weight with a larger cargo hold too this means that the C2 is able to transport up to 40 tons of weight or Vehicles such as a Mitsubishi h60 helicopter a type 16 maneuver combat vehicle or a mim-104 patriot surface-to-air missile battery further optimized with the ability to refuel in flood light and with forward-looking infrared systems it is one of the most advanced military transport aircraft currently in use number six A330 mrtt the A330 mrtt is a newly designed aerial refueling and military transport aircraft from Boeing that's already in use by Air Forces across Europe and Allied countries the original designs were created for a project with the US Air Force but after this was canceled Airbus opened up orders to other customers it's based on the A330 civilian craft but it's got significant adaptations to make it suitable for military uses it's 193 feet long and 198 feet across the wing and it's powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent turbo fans more equivalents from other manufacturers and it's able to travel at speeds of up to 547 miles an hour over a range of 9 200 miles the mrtt can be customized depending on the specific Mission requirements but for refueling it's fitted with an aerial refueling boom system underwing refueling pods and a fuselage refueling unit which means it's compatible with most military aircraft at the same time while carrying 240 000 pounds of fuel it's also able to transfer board a further 50 tons of cargo or alternatively up to 380 passengers as of the end of 2021 51 of them have been delivered to militaries around the globe and with plenty of orders still to fulfill they'll likely remain in production for many years to come number five illusion il-76 originally conceived as a commercial Freight transporter in the late 1960s but later adapted for military uses the Aleutian il-76 was developed by the Soviet illusion design Bureau and completed its first flight March of 1971 with more than 960 of them having been built they're now used by Air Forces around the world and by civilian organizations too and are used for a range of purposes from Troop and military hardware transport to the delivery of heavy mining Machinery to remote areas and disaster relief requiring a five-person crew to operate the il-76 is 152 feet long it's got a wingspan of 165 feet it's also powered by four seloviev turbo fans which give it a top speed of 560 miles an hour and it's able to travel up to 5800 miles without a payload unusually for an aircraft that's designed as a transport the military version is equipped with two 23 millimeter cannons in a turret at the base of the tail and some have two hard-point it's on the exterior that can carry various bombs but even with these additions it's able to carry a huge amount of cargo with its ability to take off from short and uneven runways it's proven to be a reliable aircraft even in the most tricky of situations and recently variants have also been produced for firefighting and even zero g training exercises number 4. Shion y20 developed by the Xi'an aircraft Industrial Corporation and nicknamed the chubby girl because it has the widest fuselage of any aircraft to have been built in China the y-20 is a strategic airlifter that's planned to become the backbone of the people's Liberation Army for decades to come for a long time China had relied on imported designs and materials from elsewhere but this aircraft was the result of a recent drive to produce all military hardware domestically it's built from composite materials that are all produced in China and takes a completely different design approach to all previous Chinese aircraft with the plan being eventually to build as many as a thousand of them operated by a three-person crew the y-20 is 154 feet long and as a wingspan that measures 164 feet it's powered by four Shenyang ws-20 turbofan engines to give it a cruising speed of 390 miles an hour at a range of up to 6 200 miles it's comparable in capability to the largest military transports used by many other country and with a large 13-foot hold was able to carry for example two type 15 tanks a single type 99a main battle tank or cargo weighing up to 70 tons number three Boeing C-17 globemaster III McDonald Douglas which merged with Boeing in 1997 designed the C-17 globemaster III in the 1980s to provide the U.S military with a newly designed heavy Transport Aircraft the model first entered service in 1995 and in total 279 of them were built before production ended in 2015. they're now used by a number of different militaries around the world and have been found to be particularly reliable without needing anywhere near as much maintenance as other aircraft designed for a similar role the C-17 is 174 feet long has a wingspan of just under 170 feet and it's powered by four Pratt and Whitney turbofan engines which each produce 40 000 pounds of thrust with two pilots and a loadmaster the planes can fly at a cruising speed of 500 20 miles an hour over a range of up to 2 700 miles all while carrying a full payload and that weighs up to 85 tons depending on the configuration it can also be used to transport 102 paratroopers 54 injured patients along with a medical staff or large Vehicles like an M1 Abrams tank or three icv Strikers the adaptability of the globemaster III has led to it becoming an important Workhorse for all branches of the military and while the process is underway to ultimately decide upon a successor to the design the current Fleet is expected to remain in operation for at least 20 or 30 years number two Antonov an-22 the Antonov an-22 which first entered service in the late 1960s was developed as a heavy military transport aircraft for the Soviet Union by the ukraine-based Antonov design Bureau it was designed to significantly improve the military's transport capability but also to show the rest of the world how far Soviet technology had progressed at a time when International tensions were heightened Not only was it the first ever wide-body Transport Aircraft but it remains to this day the largest turboprop aircraft to have ever been built with a crew of either five or six members the an-22 was 190 feet long but has an even greater wingspan that measures 211 feet across it's powered by four kunetsov turboprop engines that drive the eight-bladed Contra rotating reversible pitch propellers and it gives the aircraft a top speed of 460 miles an hour amazingly it's able to keep this speed even when it's carrying its full load of around 86 tons of cargo over a range of up to 6 800 miles the an-22 proved to be so successful that between 1963 and 1975 68 of these Giants were built 59 of which are still in service number one Lockheed Martin c5m Super Galaxy following the second world war and with the development of the Cold War militaries around the world diverted huge resources into creating huge and Powerful aircraft to take control of the skies in collaboration with the U.S Air Force Lockheed began to work on a new generation military transport aircraft in the late 50s and early 60s and was able to reveal the C5 Galaxy in 1968. since then this enormous jet has been an integral part of the Air Force's capabilities where it offers strategic InterContinental airlift abilities and can transport oversized loads that simply can't fit on other transports with a minimum four-person crew of the C5 Galaxy is 247 feet long and has a wingspan of 222 feet this width gives a wing area of 6 200 square feet and allows the Galaxy to generate enough lift to carry up to 140 tons of cargo it's powered by four General Electric turbofan engines and it's able to reach a maximum speed of 532 miles an hour when fully Laden and it's got a range of up to 2600 miles in total 131 of them were built between 1968 and 1989 rather than designing a new craft when the C5 is more capable of what's needed investment has instead been put into upgrading the ones that are still in service so they can remain operational until the 2040s with those that have undergone these upgrades now being called the c5m Super Galaxy watch our vehicles playlist for more top 15 videos about amazing Vehicles sit back relax and binge watch all of our best vehicle videos

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 81,006

Keywords: Military Planes, Planes, Biggest

Id: df_oT6hc2pk

Length: 19min 53sec (1193 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 26 2022