C-17 Transports 5MW Nuclear Reactor

Airmen assigned to the 452nd Logistics Readiness Squadron Aerial Port Flight at March Air Reserve Base, California, support loading operations of a next-generation nuclear reactor onto a C-17 Globemaster III in support of Operation Windlord, Feb. 15, 2026. The mission was conducted in coordination with Airmen from the 15th Airlift Squadron, 437th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Charleston, S.C., and the 62nd Airlift Wing, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The aircraft transported the reactor to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in support of a Department of War and Department of Energy partnership focused on nuclear energy testing and evaluation | Photo: Wendy Day/U.S. Air Force

A next-generation nuclear reactor was transported by U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III from March Air Reserve Base, California, to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in a demonstration of rapid airlift for compact energy systems, according to a Pentagon News report.

The reactor, known as the Ward 250, is a 5-megawatt unit designed to fit inside a C-17 cargo aircraft. It will later be moved to the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab for testing and evaluation. A reactor of this size could theoretically supply electricity to about 5,000 homes.

Officials said the demonstration shows how small nuclear reactors could be deployed to provide power at military bases without relying on civilian power grids or fuel supply chains. The effort follows executive orders signed May 23, 2025, by President Donald J. Trump on nuclear energy policy.

Michael P. Duffey, undersecretary of war for acquisition and sustainment, said interdepartmental coordination is central to the initiative.

“It’s clear to me that advancing President Trump’s priority on nuclear energy depends on close coordination between the Department of Energy and the Department of War,” Duffey said. “This partnership ensures advanced nuclear technologies are developed, evaluated and deployed in ways that strengthen energy resilience and national security.”

He also addressed future operational needs.

“Powering next generation warfare will require us to move faster than our adversaries, to build a system that doesn’t just equip our warfighters to fight, but equips them to win at extraordinary speed,” Duffey said. “Today is a monumental step toward building that system. By supporting the industrial base and its capacity to innovate, we accelerate the delivery of resilient power to where it’s needed.”

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said: “The American nuclear renaissance is to get that ball moving again, fast, carefully, but with private capital, American innovation and determination,” Wright said. “President Trump signed multiple executive orders that have unleashed tremendous reform of all the things that stopped the American nuclear industry from moving.”

“That’s speed, that’s innovation, that’s the start of a nuclear renaissance,” Wright said.