Although it was built in small numbers and garnared a reputation of unreliability, the Fairchild C-82 Packet was in many ways a revolutionary design which paved the way for the future of military transports in the Cold War era. Until its introduction, the grand majority of such designs had merely been military conversions of civil airliners but, instead, the C-82 was built from the ground up for USAF service and therefore was more adequate to carry combat loads such as vehicles than passengers. With a twin-boom high-wing configuration, the C-82's boxcar-like fuselage permitted easy loading of cargo as well as a clear jump for paratroops. Unfortunately, the C-82 proved to be considerably underpowered and its airframe insufficient to carry heavy loads. Still, C-82s were used to good effect during the Berlin Airlift and paved the way for the considerably more refined C-119.

The prototype XC-82 first flew on 10 September 1944 but deliveries of the production C-82A did not begin until one year later, once the war was over (and which resulted in the cancellation of almost one thousand additional units). A further prototype, the XC-82B would be the basis for the C-119.