From af.mil: Officials of the12-nation Strategic Airlift Capability, or SAC, consortium will celebrate the activation of the operational unit, known as the Heavy Airlift Wing, and arrival of the unit’s first C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at Pápa Air Base, Hungary, in a ceremony on July 27 . . .

The 12 participating nations — Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and the United States — have established the SAC consortium to jointly acquire and operate three C-17s from a single base of operations for the next 30 years. Each nation will decide how to use its portion of flight hours to support national, United Nations, European Union and NATO requirements. This unique approach allows participating nations to achieve greater efficiencies in defense investment and operational capacity than otherwise possible. (photo: USAF/Brett Clashman)