New Gulfstream delivered by USAF's Chief of Staff
On 3 November 2021, the 99th Airlift Squadron at Joint Base Andrews (MD) received a new C-37B Gulfstream. Having originated from General Dynamics' Gulfstream Aerospace plant, Savannah (GA), the Air Force’s top military leader Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. flew the first of two new C-37B aircraft from Maxwell AFB (AL) to Andrews.
The new C-37B’s tail number is 1941 (full serial number 20-1941), in honour of the year the Tuskegee Airmen were founded. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II.
At the end of January 2020, the USAF awarded a USD 127,4 million contract to Gulfstream Aerospace for the delivery of two C-37B aircraft. Later on, Gulfstream then brought them up to the C-37B baseline with communications upgrades through L3 Harris, for a total of USD 159 million.
This was the sixth C-37B to be added to the 99th AS, bringing the squadron’s total inventory of C-37 type aircraft to eleven, and the third 89th AW frame to receive its tail number from a key point in US military aviation history.
With the new aircraft, the USAF has now fifteen C-37s (both A and B variants) in its inventory. Eventually, this will grow with one more C-37B to be delivered in the future. The C-37B is the US military designation for the Gulfstream G550 in a VIP passenger configuration.
At the end of December 2019, Scramble Magazine wrote about an earlier batch of C-37Bs that were destined for the USAF.
Current overview of operational USAF C-37A and C-37B Gulfstreams:
Photos by USAF