Australia has offered to give Indonesia four Lockheed Martin C-130H transport aircraft that have been in storage since 2009.
"The offer is subject to Indonesia agreeing to fund all refurbishment and maintenance costs," said Australia's Department of Defence. It added that if Jakarta accepts the aircraft, it will also be up to it to select a commercial contractor to refurbish them. As the transfer is contingent on Indonesia's acceptance of the offer, there is no timeframe for the deal.
The four aircraft were delivered to Australia in 1979 and 1980 as part of a 12-aircraft deal. They served with the Royal Australian Air Force until 2009, when the DoD said they were placed in "preservation maintenance". The service still flies nine H-model Hercules, as listed in Flightglobal's MiliCAS database.
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© Commonwealth of Australia Australia still operates nine H-model Hercules transports |
"Australia has a well established defence co-operation programme with Indonesia, and is looking to further assist the Indonesian military to improve its strategic airlift capability to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief requirements," added the DoD.
Jakarta has been a long-time operator of C-130 aircraft, but industry sources have said a number of its aircraft are grounded.
Canberra, for its part, continues to upgrade its airlift capabilities. It has ordered five Boeing C-17 strategic transports and expressed interest in obtaining a sixth. It also operates the C-130J, and favours obtaining the Alenia Aeronautica C-27J Spartan to replace its de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou aircraft, which have been retired.
Source: Flight International
