The UK Ministry of Defense has offered for sale its C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlifters, whose roles will be taken over mainly by the A400M Atlas.
On October 14, the Defense Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) published the RAF’s C-130J Super Hercules on the list of surplus defense equipment available for sale.
See also: RAF received its penultimate Atlas A400M, only one more to go
DESA is part of the Defence Equipment and Support structure, within the Ministry of Defense (MOD), and is the organization with the sole authority and responsibility for overseeing the sale of surplus military equipment of the UK Armed Forces.
As anticipated in the Defence in a Competitive Age document ,published in March 2021, the UK Ministry of Defense is undertaking a major restructuring of its Armed Forces in the face of the challenges expected by 2030, which is part of London’s new strategy called the «Integrated Security, Defense, Development and Foreign Policy Review».
This restructuring foresees the reallocation of budget towards initiatives that will provide a technological edge over UK competitors (such as FCAS/Tempest). As a result, fiscal savings will be sought by decommissioning certain equipments that are not considered mission critical today, such as the C-130Js.
DESA is currently marketing a number of C-130J aircraft that are coming out of
service between 2023 and 2025. They are available for sale from the UK MOD,
who are working with their principal retail partner Marshall Aerospace, who will
provide necessary entry into service, sustainment and capability
enhancements.
While there was talk of early retirement of the entire RAF C-130J fleet (14 units) from active service in 2021, the document published by DESA does not specify how many Super Hercules were put up for sale. It is likely that some aircraft will continue to be used for several years for Special Forces deployments over «soft» terrain, missions for which the A400Ms would be too bulky and heavy.
