Transfer Of Twelve Ex-British C-130J-30 Transport Aircraft To Turkiye Finalized

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The used armaments market is undergoing a highly consequential but widely overlooked period of flux largely as a result of the multifaceted dislocations brought about by the Russia-Ukraine War. This post focuses on the recently finalized sale of twelve ex-British air force C-130J-30 turboprop-powered military transport aircraft to Turkiye, which is particularly notable in that it amounts to a fairly uncommon transfer of quite expensive military equipment well in advance of what would have otherwise been the end of its decades-long service life.

While widely overlooked, the used armaments market plays a key role in enabling budget-strapped militaries to, with a considerable lag, somewhat keep up with advances in military technology. From the end of the Cold War through early 2022, there tended to exist a glut of used armaments across market segments that allowed militaries worldwide to modernize on a budget. While there is variance across market segments, the post-Cold War used armaments market is essentially over. Leading militaries are likely to sustain and, in some cases, expand force structure, and in-service equipment is likely to remain operational throughout its service life. When it comes to Western countries, some types of retired military equipment are likely to be held in reserve, and what is transferable may be allocated toward allies and close partners. As a result, militaries worldwide will have to either cut force structure while modernizing or undertake increasingly large capital expenditures to buy new-build equipment at a considerably higher unit price.

While leading militaries are rarely buyers in the used armaments market, other than to purchase equipment as a source of spare parts for ageing in-service equipment, better-resourced militaries, such as that of Turkiye, sometimes turn to the used armaments market when good deals are available (following the end of the Cold War, Turkiye was for a time a major buyer of used armorued combat vehicles). The recently finalized sale of twelve ex-British air force C-130J-30 turboprop-powered military transport aircraft to Turkiye amounts to a fairly uncommon transfer of expensive military equipment well in advance of what would otherwise have been the end of its decades-long service life. Such opportunities are not only out of the ordinary but are likely to become ever less common in a time of intensifying military competition worldwide.

The United Kingdom received a total of twenty-five new-build C-130J transport aircraft—ten standard-length aircraft and fifteen of the stretched C-130J-30 variant—from 1998 onward. Budgetary pressures and the United Kingdom’s acquisition of twenty-two Airbus A400M military transport aircraft led to the early retirement of the British C-130J/C-130J-30 fleet by 2023. The Turkish air force currently operates an increasingly fatigued fleet of eighteen C-130B and C-130E military transport aircraft, as well as ten fairly new A400M aircraft. The Turkish C-130B and C-130E fleet(s) requires replacement in the near future, and the twelve ex-British C-130J-30 aircraft will, once delivered, likely result in a Turkish air force airlift capability that operates at a considerably higher rate of readiness. The savings—relative to the procurement of new-build C-130J-30 aircraft—will allow Turkiye to make greater investment toward other areas of its military capabilities.

The C-130J-30 remains in production, and its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, has a fairly robust order book. While the specifics of the agreement between Turkiye and the United Kingdom are not public knowledge, this was a missed opportunity for other existing C-130J/C-130J-30 operators, existing operators of older C-130 variants, as well as other countries with airlift needs more generally to receive C-130J-30 aiframes with a lot of remaining service life at what is likely to have been a considerable discount. The United Kingdom is the only former operator of the C-130J/C-130J-30, a military transport aircraft design that is likely to remain in active service worldwide well into the 2060s, if not the 2070s, and no additional used C-130J/C-130J-30 airframes are likely to be available on the used armaments market for the foreseeable future.