Airlifted To Battlefield
After the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, 18 tanks were transported from Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, to Somalia using a C-5 Galaxy aircraft. This transport marks the first time an M1 Abrams was airlifted to a battlefield. Altogether, the carriers lifted 3,000 short tons of cargo. Only wide-bodied C-5s were used so they could hold the weighty tanks. The C-141 Starlifter lifted other parts of the load, but the U.S. Air Force limited the amount of weight it could carry to 55,000 pounds after the wings began to crack. The C-5 and C-141 flights were nonstop minus four aerial refuelings.