One of the last C-130Js in RAF service made its farewell flypast in June 2023. The MoD is continuing its search to find buyers for this and 14 other surplus airframes. (Crown Copyright)

The UK is continuing its search to find buyers for its fleet of retired Lockheed Martin C-130J/C-130J-30 Hercules airlifters, with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) telling Janes that it has identified several potential buyers.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) retired one ‘short' C-130J (C5 in UK service) and 13 ‘stretched' C-130J-30 (C4) airframes on 31 March 2023 (with the type's final farewell flypast following in June 2023), all of which, along with an additional C5 aircraft carried over from the previous round of retirements in 2015, are now available to overseas buyers.

“The Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) is managing the sales programme on behalf of the MoD and continues to actively pursue sales with a number of potential buyers,” the ministry said on 10 May.

The Fatah-II rocket is initially propelled using a single-stage dual-thrust solid rocket motor, which then disengages and glides to supersonic speeds to engage the target. (Janes)

The Pakistan Army has initiated inducting the Fatah-II multiple rocket launcher (MRL), the Pakistan Armed Forces' Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) agency said on 15 May.

“Fatah-II is being inducted in Pakistan's Artillery Divisions for stand-off [capability] and to engage the targets with precision,” ISPR said.

The rocket system will enhance the “reach and lethality of [the] Pakistan Army's conventional arsenal”, ISPR added.

The Pakistan Army also test-fired Fatah-II on 15 May. The test was “aimed at perfecting the launch drills and procedures”, according to ISPR.

Fatah-II – with a maximum strike range of 400 km – is equipped with a “navigation system, unique trajectory, and manoeuvrable features, which make the launcher capable of engaging targets with high precision and defeating any missile defence system”, ISPR said.

The MRL is developed by Pakistan's state-owned Global Industrial & Defence Solutions (GIDS) as an extended-range variant of the Fatah-I MRL.

A group of soldiers that includes at least one Libyan call in air support during Exercise ‘African Lion 2024' at Tunisia's Ben Ghilouf Training Area on 7 May. (US Army Southern European Task Force Africa)

The Tunisian Armed Forces' main training area at Ben Ghilouf is undergoing a major upgrade, according to plans posted on the US government's System for Award Management (SAM) website on 15 May.

The plans were attached to a solicitation from US Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command seeking a contractor for the third phase of the project, which covers the building of a new life support area (LSA) with seven barracks buildings that together can accommodate 630 people, two dining halls capable of seating 430 people at the same time, and two ablution blocks.

The plans also outlined the first two phases, which include a new range-operations centre, a replacement range overwatch tower, a canopy structure with seating and a terrain model for briefings, and a helicopter pad. The existing viewing stand and ablution building are also being improved. There is also a future plan for a second LSA of unspecified size and an urban combat training area.