The first Boeing C-17 Globemaster III purchased by the NATO Airlift Management Organization and the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) consortium officially joined the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) at Papa Air Base, Hungary, as part of a ceremony commemorating the activation of a new airlift capability for 10 NATO and two Partnership for Peace nations.

The advanced airlifter, known as SAC 01, is the first of three C-17s that will be assigned to the HAW in western Hungary this year and will soon start flying missions in support of the International Security Assistance Force operations in Afghanistan.

The unique SAC approach to shared use of the strategic airlifter is viewed as a model for the future acquisition and management of defense capabilities. The SAC nations will share acquisition and operating costs for the C-17s over the nearly 30-year course of the agreement. SAC 01 has been contributed by the United States, a member of the consortium. Hungary agreed to both host the wing at Papa Air Base and to register the C-17s under the Hungarian flag.

“Boeing is proud that the C-17 is a part of this historic day,” said Jean Chamberlin, Boeing vice president, Global Mobility Systems. “It’s the only aircraft capable of performing all of SAC’s airlift missions – strategic and tactical, military and humanitarian, brigade airdrop and aeromedical evacuation — and it can do all of that using standard runways or short, austere airfields.”

The SAC group includes 10 NATO nations — Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, United States — and Partnership for Peace members Sweden and Finland.

Boeing Company will open a second assembly line for its long-delayed 787 jetliner in South Carolina, expanding beyond its longtime manufacturing base in Washington state to take advantage of economic incentives and a nonunion work force.

The decision ended in interstate competition for the huge factory, with South Carolina production of a plane crucial to Boeing’s future but one plagued by problems stemming partly from the company’s reliance on suppliers spanning the globe.

About 55 airlines have ordered some 840 of the planes since the program was launched in 2003 — far more than any other Boeing plane at the same stage of development.

Boeing also has long complained about the business climate in Washington and frequent strikes by production workers. At Boeing’s plant in North Charleston, workers last month voted against continued representation by the International Association of Machinists.

Boeing has postponed the plane’s inaugural test flight and deliveries five times, putting it more than two years behind schedule. The delays have cost Boeing credibility and billions of dollars in anticipated costs and penalties.

The company could break ground in South Carolina as soon as next month, with the first 787 slated to leave the factory in the first quarter of 2012. The company aims to produce 10 of the planes a month by 2013. By comparison, it makes about 31 of its 737s and seven of its popular 777s a month.

The U.S Air Force is planning to add the C-27J Spartan, the latest propeller-driven air lifter planned for the Air Force inventory, are steadily progressing.

In April, through Resource Management Decision 802, Defense Secretary Robert Gates moved the C-27J program and its related direct support mission from the Army to the Air Force. Since April, the Air Force and Air Mobility Command (AMC) have taken a serious approach to building the program, officials said.

The Air Force will field 38 C-27Js, operated by the Air National Guard. Two are currently going through qualification and operational testing.

According to Air Force officials, the C-27J is an “extremely rugged” aircraft, designed for austere environments. And, although it has yet to complete its testing, they say it should thrive in the “dirt.”

“Think of the C-27J as a ‘mini-Herc’ — it looks like and acts like a C-130, but it is about half the size (3.5 pallet positions versus 6 to 8 pallets for the C-130),” Colonel Capone said. “This smaller size brings efficiency of scale to the Air Force’s portfolio of air lifters.”

AMC and Air Force officials plan to continuously review and update the C-27J using input from field commanders until it is incorporated into joint doctrine.

US government regulators have revoked the licenses of the two airline pilots who flew an Airbus passenger jet past their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles last week.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday the Northwest Airlines pilots had violated numerous regulations, including failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly.

The pilots — first officer Richard Cole and captain Timothy Cheney — told investigators they lost track of time and place while working on their laptop computers.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not taken or examined the laptops that the pilots were using, spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said Tuesday.

Delta Air Lines Inc., which acquired Northwest last year, has suspended the two pilots pending an investigation.

There are no federal rules that specifically ban pilots’ use of laptops or other personal electronic devices as long as the plane is flying above 10,000 feet, said Diane Spitaliere, an FAA spokeswoman.

Delta said in a statement that using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots’ command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline’s flight deck policies. The airline said violations of that policy will result in termination.