Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) completed delivery today of the third production C-5M Super Galaxy to the U.S. Air Force.

The sixth C-5M overall to be delivered to the Air Force, this aircraft will undergo internal paint restoration at Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y., before traveling to its permanent home at Dover AFB, Del.

In July, the C-5M Super Galaxy became the first U.S. airlifter to perform a polar overflight direct from Dover AFB to Afghanistan.

Lockheed Martin is on contract to modernize a total of 52 C-5s, consisting of 49 B-, two C- and one A-model aircraft through the Reliability Enhancement and Re-Engining Program (RERP). The program incorporates more than 70 changes and upgrades, including newer, quieter General Electric engines making the C-5M more reliable and 10 percent more fuel efficient than legacy C-5s.

The Super Galaxy is America’s premier global direct delivery weapon system and the only strategic airlifter capable of linking the homeland directly to the warfighter in all theaters of combat without refueling. The C-5M recently delivered 3,300 tons of helicopters to Afghanistan with a mission capable rate of nearly 90 percent.

The C-5M’s demonstrated improvements in performance and efficiency validate the value to the taxpayer of modernizing proven and viable aircraft. The C-5 can carry twice the cargo of other strategic airlift systems and is the only strategic airlifter capable of carrying 100 percent of certified air-transportable cargo.

Lockheed Martin press release, Photo: R. Vogelaar Z.A.P.P.