Lockheed C-5 Galaxy vs. Antonov AN-124

It’s a near tie, and the winner depends on what you measure. The Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy is longer, has the longer cargo hold, and is rated for a slightly heavier payload (127.5 tonnes vs. 120 tonnes for the civil An-124-100). The Antonov An-124 Ruslan has the wider wingspan, a wider and taller cargo hold, and onboard cranes that let it load single pieces of up to 120 tonnes without airport equipment.

The bigger practical difference is access. The C-5M is a US Air Force asset you can’t hire. The An-124 is the largest aircraft you can actually charter for commercial cargo, but war and sanctions have cut the Western-available fleet to a handful of jets.

• Choose the C-5M if you’re asking which aircraft moves more military cargo farther, more reliably, with a fleet of 52 behind it.
• Choose the An-124 if you’re asking which outsize freighter a company can book for a turbine, generator or satellite.

 

C-5 Galaxy vs. An-124: specs side by side

The C-5M wins on length, hold length and certified payload; the An-124 wins on wingspan, hold cross-section and maximum takeoff weight.

Spec	Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy	Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan
Length	75.3 m (247 ft 10 in)	69.1 m (226 ft 8 in)
Wingspan	67.89 m (222 ft 9 in)	73.3 m (240 ft 6 in)
Height	19.84 m (65 ft 1 in)	21.08 m (69 ft 2 in)
Cargo hold (L × W × H)	43.8 × 5.79 × 4.11 m	36.5 × 6.4 × 4.4 m
Max payload	127,460 kg (281,001 lb)	120,000 kg (264,600 lb); 150 t on the -100M-150
Max takeoff weight	381,024 kg (840,000 lb)	392,000 kg; 402,000 kg on the -100M-150
Range at max payload	2,150 nm (3,982 km), plus a 500 nm second leg	about 4,500 km (2,430 nm)
Max range, no cargo	7,000 nm (12,960 km)	about 14,000 km (7,560 nm)
Speed	518 mph (834 km/h)	750–850 km/h cruise (465–530 mph)
Engines	4 × GE F138 (CF6-80C2-L1F), 51,250 lbf each	4 × Progress D-18T, about 51,600 lbf each
Crew	7	6 (civil -100)
Cargo doors	Nose and rear, full-width drive-on ramps	Nose and rear, both 6.4 m wide
First flight	1968	1982
Active fleet (2026)	52, all US Air Force	About 15 in commercial service, plus Russian military jets

 

 

Which is bigger, the C-5 or the An-124?

Neither is bigger on every measure. The C-5M is about 6 m longer nose to tail, while the An-124 spans about 5.4 m more wingtip to wingtip and stands about 1.2 m taller.

Cargo hold: length vs. cross-section

Multiply out the hold dimensions and the two are almost identical in volume, roughly 1,040 m³ for the C-5M and 1,030 m³ for the An-124. They get there differently:

• The C-5M’s hold is longer. At 43.8 m, it offers about 7 m more floor length, which matters for long items like helicopter fuselages, bridge sections or rows of vehicles. The Air Force says its full-width ramps let crews load vehicles two abreast.
• The An-124’s hold is wider and taller. At 6.4 m wide and 4.4 m high, it takes cargo about 0.6 m wider and 0.3 m taller than the C-5M can. For a fat industrial piece like a gas turbine or a transformer, those centimetres decide whether it fits at all.

Payload: who lifts more?

On paper the C-5M carries more: 127,460 kg against 120,000 kg for the civil An-124-100. That 120-tonne figure is a civil certification limit, though. The military An-124 was rated for 150 tonnes, and the upgraded An-124-100M-150 restored that figure with a higher takeoff weight. Only one civil -100 is recorded as converted to that standard, so for most charter jets, 120 tonnes is the working ceiling.

For bulky outsize cargo, the shape of the hold often matters more than the last few tonnes of rated payload.

 

Range, speed and runway performance

With a full load, the An-124 goes slightly farther; with in-flight refuelling, the C-5M has effectively unlimited range.

• Range with max payload. The Air Force rates the C-5M at 2,150 nm (3,982 km) with 127.5 tonnes, plus a further 500 nm hop to a second base, all without refuelling. Volga-Dnepr lists the An-124-100 at about 4,500 km (2,430 nm) with its 120-tonne maximum.
• Ferry range. Empty, the C-5M reaches 7,000 nm; the An-124’s maximum is about 14,000 km (7,560 nm).
• Air refuelling. The C-5M can refuel in flight, so its range is limited only by crew endurance. The An-124 has no refuelling probe and must land to take on fuel.
• Speed. Both cruise in the low-to-mid 800s km/h. The Air Force quotes 518 mph (834 km/h) for the C-5M; the An-124 cruises at 750–850 km/h.
• Runways. The C-5M’s 2000s re-engining cut its takeoff roll by 30% and raised its climb rate by 58%. The An-124 needs about 3,000 m of runway at maximum takeoff weight, though its thrust reversers shorten the landing roll to about 900 m.

Both jets run on four high-bypass turbofans of similar thrust. The C-5M uses General Electric CF6 engines from the airliner world, which helps parts supply; the An-124’s Ukrainian-designed D-18T engines are now its biggest supply headache (see fleet status below).

 

Loading and cargo handling

Both aircraft were built around the same idea: open both ends, kneel the landing gear and drive cargo straight through. Where they differ is how much they rely on the airport.

• Shared design. Each has an upward-swinging nose, a rear ramp and landing gear that kneels to bring the floor down to truck height. The C-5M rides on 28 wheels across five sets of landing gear.
• The An-124’s built-in cranes. Overhead gantry cranes in the hold lift up to 30 tonnes, so a single heavy piece can come straight off a flatbed truck. With specialist winching gear, Antonov operators load single items of up to 120 tonnes. That self-sufficiency is a big reason the Ruslan dominates remote-site charters, such as mining and energy projects.
• The C-5M’s pallet system. The C-5M carries up to 36 standard 463L military pallets, or a mix of pallets and vehicles. It relies on military ground equipment, which suits its job: moving tanks, helicopters and supplies between bases that already have that equipment.

For a turbine heading to a remote power station, the An-124’s cranes are the deciding feature. For a brigade’s worth of vehicles and pallets heading to a military hub, the C-5M’s longer floor and drive-through ramps win.

 

Fleet size and status in 2026

The C-5M fleet is stable and funded for decades; the An-124 fleet is split by war and shrinking in the West.

C-5M Super Galaxy: 52 aircraft, kept to about 2050

The US Air Force operates 52 C-5Ms: 36 with active-duty units and 16 with the Air Force Reserve, based at Dover, Travis, Lackland and Westover. Every remaining C-5 finished the re-engining programme by fiscal 2018, and the older, unmodified jets retired by September 2017.

Retirement keeps moving right. Air Force fiscal 2027 budget documents point to the C-5M staying in service until the Next-Generation Airlift programme replaces it around fiscal 2050, according to Army Recognition. Earlier plans pointed to about 2040.

 

An-124 Ruslan: a fleet split in two

As of April 2026, about 15 An-124s were in commercial service, according to Wikipedia’s operator list. Before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, roughly 20 were commercially available.

• Antonov Airlines (Ukraine) now serves the Western market almost alone. It has seven An-124s, four active and three parked, with an average age of about 35 years, per STAT Times. It works from Leipzig, Germany, and in July 2025 flew a deeply modernised An-124 out of Ukraine to join that base.
• Volga-Dnepr (Russia) was once the largest commercial operator, with 12 aircraft. Sanctions since 2022 have cut it off from Western customers.
• The Russian Aerospace Forces fly at least 10 military An-124s.
• The Toronto jet. A Volga-Dnepr An-124 has sat at Toronto Pearson since February 27, 2022. Canada formally seized it in June 2023 and wants to hand it to Ukraine. In August 2026, Canada’s Federal Court rejected Volga-Dnepr’s bid to overturn the sanctions, so it stays grounded.

The split also hurts maintenance. Antonov’s Western fleet can’t draw on Russian spare parts, engines or expertise, and production of new An-124s stopped in the 2010s. Industry analysts at Breakbulk News describe the West’s heavy-lift shortage as one with no fix for a decade.

 

Can you charter a C-5 or an An-124?

You can charter an An-124, but not a C-5.

• C-5M: military only. The C-5M exists to move cargo and personnel for the US Department of Defense. It does fly humanitarian and disaster-relief missions and supports allies, but there’s no commercial booking channel.
• An-124: the biggest jet you can hire. The Ruslan is the world’s largest cargo aircraft available for commercial charter. In the West, that now means Antonov Airlines, booked directly or through charter brokers. Prices are quoted per mission, based on routing, positioning and the cargo.
• Even NATO charters it. Under the SALIS programme, NATO countries lease An-124 capacity from Antonov rather than buying their own outsize airlifters. The current agreement keeps one aircraft on 72 hours’ notice, with more available at six and nine days’ notice.

That last point says a lot about this rivalry. Many European militaries that need C-5-class lift don’t own a C-5; they rent an An-124.

 

A Cold War rivalry: where each came from

The An-124 was the Soviet answer to the C-5, and it arrived 14 years later.

The C-5 Galaxy came out of a 1960s US Air Force requirement for a jet that could carry outsize Army equipment across oceans. Lockheed-Georgia built it in Marietta. It first flew in 1968, and the first operational C-5A reached Charleston Air Force Base in June 1970. Lockheed built 81 C-5As, then 50 improved C-5Bs delivered through 1989, plus two C-5Cs with widened doors for space shuttle cargo containers. From 1998, the Air Force modernised the avionics, then re-engined 52 airframes with GE CF6 engines, creating the C-5M from 2006 onward.

The An-124 Ruslan was designed by the Antonov bureau in Kyiv from 1977, with a mission close to the C-5’s. NATO gave it the reporting name Condor. It first flew on 24 December 1982 and entered Soviet military service in 1986. A civil version, the An-124-100, was certified in December 1992, which opened the commercial charter market it now dominates. Production in Kyiv and Ulyanovsk stopped in the 2010s, with roughly 55 built. Antonov’s six-engine An-225 Mriya was stretched from the An-124 design; the only one built was destroyed at Hostomel in 2022.

By maximum takeoff weight, the An-124 outweighs the C-5M (392–405 tonnes vs. 381 tonnes). It isn’t the heaviest freighter flying today, though: Boeing’s 747-8F tops out at about 442 tonnes.

 

The verdict: which one wins?

The C-5M is the better military airlifter; the An-124 is the better commercial heavy-lifter. Here’s how it breaks down by question:

If your question is…	Winner	Why
Which carries the most weight?	C-5M (vs. civil An-124)	127.5 t certified vs. 120 t; the rare An-124-100M-150 reaches 150 t
Which has the biggest wingspan?	An-124	73.3 m vs. 67.89 m
Which is longest?	C-5M	75.3 m vs. 69.1 m
Which fits the widest or tallest cargo?	An-124	6.4 × 4.4 m hold cross-section vs. 5.79 × 4.11 m
Which fits the longest cargo?	C-5M	43.8 m hold vs. 36.5 m
Which flies farther fully loaded?	An-124	About 4,500 km with 120 t vs. 3,982 km with 127.5 t
Which can refuel in flight?	C-5M	The An-124 must land to refuel
Which loads without airport equipment?	An-124	Built-in 30-tonne overhead cranes
Which can a business hire?	An-124	The C-5M isn’t available for charter
Which has the healthier future?	C-5M	52 jets funded to about 2050; the Western An-124 fleet is down to about four active jets

 

If you want one sentence: the C-5M is the stronger aircraft programme, while the An-124 is the more remarkable aircraft, a 40-year-old Soviet design still doing jobs nothing else in civil aviation can.

 

Frequently asked questions

Is the An-124 bigger than the C-5 Galaxy?

Partly. The An-124 has a wider wingspan, is taller and has a wider, taller cargo hold. The C-5M is longer, has a longer hold and is certified for more payload than the civil An-124-100.

 

Which is the largest military transport aircraft in the US Air Force?

The C-5M Super Galaxy. It’s the largest aircraft in the Air Force inventory, ahead of the C-17 Globemaster III.

 

What is the largest cargo plane in the world today?

With the An-225 Mriya destroyed in 2022, the An-124 is the largest cargo aircraft available for commercial charter. By maximum takeoff weight, the Boeing 747-8F is heavier, but it can’t take the same outsize cargo.

 

How many C-5 Galaxies and An-124s are left?

The US Air Force flies 52 C-5Ms. About 15 An-124s were in commercial service as of April 2026, with only around four active Antonov Airlines jets serving Western customers. Russia’s air force operates at least 10 more.

 

Why is the An-124 called the Ruslan?

It’s named after Ruslan, the hero of Alexander Pushkin’s epic poem Ruslan and Ludmila. NATO’s reporting name for it is Condor.

 

Will either aircraft be replaced?

The Air Force plans to keep the C-5M until its Next-Generation Airlift programme arrives, around fiscal 2050. No new An-124s are being built, and no Western aircraft in production matches its outsize cargo capability.

 

Can the C-5 carry an An-124, or vice versa?

No. Neither hold comes close to fitting the other aircraft’s fuselage or wings. Each can carry large helicopters, tanks and aircraft sections, though.