Türkiye buys surplus UK C-130Js, national media reports

One of the last C-130Js in RAF service made its farewell flypast in June 2023. Türkiye has bought 12 of the 14 surplus airframes, according to national media reports. (Crown Copyright)

Türkiye has been identified by national media as being the customer for the bulk of the UK's retired Lockheed Martin C-130J/C-130J-30 Hercules airlifters.

Several national media outlets reported the procurement in late July, saying that 12 of the 14 surplus aircraft were bound for the Turkish Air Force (TuAF).

The reports came weeks after Lockheed Martin told Janes in June that most of the C-130Js that the Royal Air Force (RAF) retired in March 2023 “now have a home”, though it stopped short of identifying the customer(s). Janes asked the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the identity of the customer(s) at that time, but was told that the buyer had not yet authorised its disclosure. Interest had also reportedly been received from Greece.

The sale of some or all of the one ‘short' C-130J (C5 in UK service) and 13 ‘stretched' C-130J-30 (C4) airframes represents the second batch of surplus Hercules that the MoD has sold off over recent years, with eight C5 aircraft retired in 2015 having already been acquired by Bangladesh (five), Bahrain (two), and the US Navy (one).

Although the UK C-130J/C-130J-30 fleet had been worked hard over years of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the final 14 aircraft that were the subject of the latest sale were put through a centre-wing box (CWB) replacement effort that continued after the retirement was announced. This was done to maximise the potential interest in the resale of the aircraft, as well as their monetary value to the MoD.