Aerospace
Australia to buy 20 new US-made C-130J Hercules Aircraft for $9.8bn
Australia announced on Monday that it would pay the US $6.6 billion ($9.8 billion) for 20 new C-130 Hercules, doubling the size of the Australian Air Force’s fleet of the second-largest heavy transport aircraft.
Australian Air Force secures US approval for C-130J Super Hercules deal(Opens in a new browser tab)
According to the plan, the air force would start acquiring 20 new C130J aircraft starting in 2027 in an effort to replace and increase its current fleet. Currently, the RAAF employs 12 Hercules aircraft, known as the “workhorse” of the air force, for usage both domestically and abroad.
The agreement comes at a time when China has emerged as an increasingly assertive power in the Indo-Pacific. The exercise, which involves more than 30,000 troops and participants from 11 other nations, is the largest Australia-U.S. joint military exercise ever. The biennial Talisman Sabre war games kicked out on Friday and will last for two weeks across Australia.
The aircraft, according to Defence Minister Richard Marles, are a “crucial asset” to the country and the RAAF’s defensive capabilities. The purchase “will almost double the fleet and represents a massive uplift in capability, in mobility, and in transport for the Royal Australian Air Force,” Conroy told reporters.
The crucial factor, according to Conroy, is that almost tripling the fleet increases our ability to deploy them on several operations at once. Eight of the larger Boeing C-17A Globemaster heavy transport jets, operated by the Australian Air Force, are also in service.
