Procurement plan for C-130J transport planes
After two embarrassing incidents in succession, Athens is reportedly oriented toward the procurement of a number of new C-130J aircraft which are the latest version of the American transport aircraft.
Greece’s image received a blow last Wednesday when a C-130 plane carrying humanitarian aid destined for Incirlik in Turkey departed from Thessaloniki but was forced to cut the journey short due to a problem and land at Elefsina.
This was preceded by another incident last spring when two C-130s were grounded for maintenance, forcing the government to request the assistance of the Royal Canadian Air Force in order to transfer Greek aid to Ukraine.
A new-build C-130J costs between €100 (commercial price) and €115 million through the US Foreign Military Sales program.
However, even if the order were placed today, the planes won’t be delivered until after at least 2.5-3 years.
