Australia to buy 20 C-130 Hercules aircraft from the US for $6.6 billion
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/07/2023 (812 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia said Monday it will buy 20 new C-130 Hercules from the United States in a 9.8 billion Australian dollar ($6.6 billion) deal that will increase by two-thirds the size of the Australian air force’s fleet of its second-largest heavy transport aircraft.
The announcement follows the U.S. Congress’ approval last year of a larger sale of 24 of the Lockheed Martin-manufactured propellor-driven aircraft.
The United States and Australia are currently conducting their biennial Talisman Sabre military exercise along the Australian coast that this year involves 13 nations and more thfrn 30,000 personnel as global concerns intensify over an increasingly assertive China.
The first of the new four-engine Hercules is expected to be delivered in 2027 and the new aircraft will eventually replace the fleet of 12 Hercules currently operated by the Royal Australian Air Force from RAAF Base Richmond near Sydney, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.
The purchase “will almost double the fleet and represents a massive uplift in capability, in mobility and transport for the Royal Australian Air Force,” Conroy told reporters.
“Almost doubling the fleet gives us more capacity to deploy them on multiple operations at the same time, and that’s the critical driver,” Conroy added.
The Australian air force also operates eight of the larger Boeing C-17A Globemaster heavy transport jet aircraft.
The deal was confirmed ahead of U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting with their Australian counterparts for annual talks late this week in the Australian city of Brisbane.
It is Blinken’s third trip to Asia in less than two months, highlighting U.S. efforts to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.
A closer bilateral military relationship with Australia was underscored Saturday when the USS Canberra was commissioned in Sydney. The Independence-variant littoral combat ship, built by Australian manufacturer Austal, became the first U.S. warship to be commissioned in a foreign port.
The original Canberra was a U.S. cruiser launched in 1943 and named after the Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra, which was torpedoed by the Japanese in 1942 with a loss of 193 lives while supporting U.S. Marines landings in the Solomon Islands. The Australian warship was named for Australia’s capital.
The Solomons are again a security concern for the United States and its allies over recent security agreements that the South Pacific nation signed with China.