Turkey Negotiates with United Kingdom for 12 Ex-RAF C-130J Hercules and Plans to Expand A400M Fleet

Ankara is set to bolster its air force once again, this time by focusing on military transport aircraft. Reports from United Kingdom suggest that Ankara plans to acquire 12 of the 14 C-130J Hercules aircraft retired by the British Royal Air Force (RAF), though this information has not yet been officially confirmed.

These rumors have intensified over the past month, but both London and Lockheed Martin have maintained confidentiality about the identity of the potential buyer. Both Turkey and Greece have entered negotiations to acquire these aircraft. The proposed deal includes one "short" C-130J (known as C5 in the UK) and 13 "stretched" C-130J-30s (C4), marking the second batch of surplus Hercules that the Ministry of Defence has sold recently.

In 2015, eight C5 aircraft were retired and sold to Bangladesh (five), Bahrain (two), and the U.S. Navy (one). Since the late 1990s, the RAF has operated the C-130J/C-130J-30 Hercules, replacing its older fleet of C-130K models to enhance its tactical airlift capabilities.

Meanwhile, Turkey is also negotiating to acquire six A-400M transport aircraft. The Turkish Air Force currently operates 10 A-400M aircraft and is in talks with Airbus to increase this number to 16.