A C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft photographed at Joint Base Pearl-Harbor Hickam, Hawaii, in July 2025. The C-5 Galaxy’s readiness rate has steadily dropped in recent years, reaching an all-time low of 37 percent this year. (US Army/Sgt. Duke Edwards)

The C-5 Galaxy Will Stay in Service Until 2050. That Might Be a Problem.

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The C-5, the largest transport aircraft in the US Air Force fleet, is showing signs of its age—yet its replacement, the Next Generation Airlift, is still roughly a decade away.

The Air Force has indicated in its Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget request that it expects the C-5M Galaxy transport aircraft fleet to remain operational until 2050—an extension beyond previous estimates that the fleet would be retired in the mid-2040s. The problem in the interim is that the C-5 fleet’s readiness is already collapsing—with an estimated mission-capable rate of just 37 percent!

Of the 52 C-5 aircraft still in service, the youngest aircraft would be 61 years old at the time of its retirement in 2050. Keeping the fleet alive in the meantime promises to be increasingly expensive and difficult.

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