UK in ‘advanced' talks to sell remaining surplus Hercules airlifters

One of the RAF's C-130J-30 aircraft performing a farewell flypast for the type in UK service in June 2023. Having sold most of its surplus airlifters to international customers, the MoD is now finalising the transfer of the final three airframes. (Crown Copyright)

The United Kingdom is in “advanced” talks with a potential customer for the last of its surplus Lockheed Martin C-130J/C-130J-30 Hercules airlifters, Janes has learnt.

A source said on 5 February that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is now finalising details with an undisclosed customer for the sale of its three remaining surplus aircraft, comprising one ‘stretched' C-130J-30 (designated C4 in its former Royal Air Force [RAF] service) and two ‘short' C-130Js (C5).

The source, who declined to be identified, added that commercial confidentiality prevents the disclosure of further information at this time.

The UK had 23 C-130J/C-130J-30 Hercules airlifters that it has sold off in two batches, firstly from 2019 and then from the type's out-of-service date in 2023.

The first batch involved 10 C-130J C5 aircraft, of which five were sold to Bangladesh, two to Bahrain, and one to the US Navy. One remained unsold at that time, with another being retained by the RAF in place of a C-130J-30 C4 that was lost in Iraq in 2018. These two C5 airframes are included in the sale that is now being finalised.

The second batch involved 13 C-130J-30 C4 aircraft, of which 12 have been sold to Türkiye. The sole remaining C4 is included in the sale that is now being finalised.

In RAF service, the 23 retired C-130J/C-130J-30 Hercules have been replaced by 22 Airbus Defence and Space A400M Atlas airlifters.

For more, please see Türkiye signs C-130J support contract with Marshall Aerospace .