Aircraft
France Is the Latest C-130J Customer
A multi-year buy will keep the ‘Herk’ in production; the UK has been offered an MPA conversion

France will become the 17th customer for the Lockheed Martin (LM) Super Hercules with an order for two C-130Js and two KC-130Js tankers worth about $650 million. Nearly 20 years after its first flight, the J-model is set for many more years of production, with negotiations for a new five-year multi-year buy (MYB) of 83 for U.S. forces nearing completion. Meanwhile, LM has proposed the conversion to maritime patrol configuration of some aircraft belonging to the UK Royal Air Force, which was the C-130J launch customer.