Tag: Michael P. Duffey

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 5-megawatt Ward 250 nuclear reactor was airlifted by a C-17 Globemaster III from March Air Reserve Base to Hill Air Force Base, demonstrating the feasibility of transporting compact nuclear power systems by military aircraft for testing and potential deployment.