The Boeing C-32 is the United States Air Force designation for variants of the Boeing 757 in military service.
Two variants currently exist, filling different parts of the military passenger transport role.
Variants
C-32A
The C-32A is the military designation for the Boeing 757-2G4, a variant of the Boeing 757-200, a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner that has been modified for government VIP transport use, including a change to a 45-passenger interior and military avionics.
A contract was awarded in August 1996 for four aircraft supplemented by the smaller C-37A and later C-40 Clipper to replace the aging fleet of VC-137 aircraft.
The first plane was delivered to the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland in late June 1998.
Two more aircraft were acquired later.
C-32B Gate Keeper
The 45-seat C-32B Gatekeeper provides airlift to the U.S. government’s Gate Keeper (GK) mission, a special access program which provides clandestine support to foreign nations through unclassified State Department Foreign Emergency Support Team missions and classified special operations and intelligence missions.
The aircraft are operated by two different units, the New Jersey Air National Guard’s 150th Special Operations Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and the 486th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
The C-32Bs operate at the direction of the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, though when serving a civilian agency, approval for the use of the aircraft is on the recommendation of the committee of Deputy Secretaries of Defence with the consent of the Secretary of Defence.
The development of the two aircraft emerged from the 2001 Air Force budget, where they were procured for $144.963 million to fill an Air Force request for transportation capabilities for the Foreign and Domestic Emergency Support Teams.
The Gate Keeper mission predates the aircraft, which are successors to previous fleets based on other models of aircraft.
The planes have been spotted throughout the world, including such locations as Area 51 and the Tonopah Test Range, as well as nearly every country.
The C-32B became known during the George W. Bush administration for unsubstantiated theories which circulated that they were connected to the CIA’s extraordinary rendition flights, giving them the nickname “torture taxi.”
Specifications
Crew
2 + 1 jump seat + 13 mission crew
Capacity
45
Length
155 ft 3 in (47.32 m)
Wingspan
124 ft 10 in (38.05 m)
Height
44 ft 3 in (13.49 m) at MTOW
Wing area
185.25 sq ft (17.210 m2)
Empty weight
128,730 lb (58,391 kg) OWE
Maximum zero-fuel weight
186,000 lb (84,368 kg) MZFW
Max take-off weight
256,000 lb (116,120 kg) MTOW
Maximum landing weight
210,000 lb (95,254 kg) MLW
Fuel capacity
13,334 US gal (11,103 imp gal; 50,475 l)
With auxiliary tanks in forward and aft cargo holds
