[Ricardo Nunes]

In the first international sale of a Boeing C-17, the United Kingdom on Wednesday agreed to buy a fleet of four C-17s it now leases, and will buy a fifth new C-17.

"This is great news for the C-17 program. We hope it's the first of many to come," Boeing vice president and C-17 program manager Dave Bowman said Wednesday after the purchase was announced in Parliament.

The U.K. is currently leasing four C-17s, the first one delivered to the Royal Air Force in May 2001.

The fleet has logged more than 16,000 flying hours, most of it in the Middle East, according to the U.K.

United Kingdom Minister of Defense Jeffery Moon told Parliament the purchase is effective at the conclusion of the current lease with Boeing.

"We have been working with the minister of defense and the (Royal Air Force) for a long time now. The airplanes have proven themselves," said Tommy Dunehew, C-17's International Program manager.

The C-17s are assembled in Long Beach, and combined with Boeing's 717 commercial production plant, make Boeing the largest private employer in the city.

In another C-17 development, a legislative committee approved a conference report on Wednesday that includes $2.7billion in funding for 15 C-17 planes, an increase of $158 million and one additional C-17 above what President Bush had requested be included in 2005 Defense Department appropriations.

The conference report is scheduled to be debated in Congress this week and could be sent to Bush for signature by the weekend.