March 9, 2022, the first Franco-German airlift squadron officially entered service at Évreux in Normandy. It will have 10 C/KC-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft.
When the Franco-German transport squadron is complete in 2024, it will have 10 aircraft and 300 soldiers from both nations, operating in partnership from the Évreux base in France.
A unique partnership
The particularity of this partnership is its complete integration: for the first time, French and German pilots, mechanics, avionics technicians, and loadmasters live, train, and work together here. Binational crews fly the missions and on the ground, the German and French aircraft are also maintained together.
The new bi-national squadron is a milestone for future cooperation between the Luftwaffe and the Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace. In this case, both sides benefit from each other’s expertise.
To implement this cooperation, which is unique in Europe, uniform basic documents are being created, e.g. for joint flight and maintenance operations. In the future, they can serve as a model for further cooperation in Europe.
The Franco-German C-130J Super Hercules
The Franco-German Airlift Squadron’s fleet will in the future be composed of ten Super Hercules aircraft from the U.S. firm Lockheed Martin:
- 5 C-130J-30
- 5 KC-130J (tanker version)
France will provide two C-130J-30s and two KC-130Js; while Germany is providing three C-130J-30s and three KC-130Js.
The C-130J-30 is the lengthened fuselage version (by almost 5 meters) of the C-130J, while the KC-130J has mid-air refueling capability.
The four French aircraft were delivered between January 2018 and February 2020 and are currently still based at Orléans-Bricy.
First German Super Hercules (designation 55+01) was delivered on February 19, 2022. The others will follow at intervals of about six months so that the fleet will be complete in 2024.
