Canada has signed a deal worth 3.4 billion U.S. dollars with American company Boeing to buy four C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift military cargo planes, government officials announced Friday.

The plane can lift 76 tons and are capable of carrying any piece of equipment in Canada's military inventory, including tanks and armored vehicles, General Rick Hillier, the chief of defense staff, told reporters.

"This marks a beginning of a new era for Canada's Armed Forces, " Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor said.

Right now, Canada either rents big planes commercially or seeks help from allies, often the United States Air Force, for the transportation of heavy military equipment.

The planes themselves will cost around 1.8 billion U.S. dollars while the rest of the contract comprises a 20-year service deal.

O'Connor said the first of the four planes would be delivered by the end of August.

The purchases are the first slice of a defense package of 17 billion U.S. dollars announced by the Conservative government last year.

Source: Xinhua