Saudi Arabia has requested the $6.7 billion sale of 25 Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) C-130J Super Hercules aircraft for airlift and in-flight refueling duties to help modernize the Royal Saudi Air Force’s air transport capabilities, according to a Flight global article.
“Saudi Arabia needs these aircraft to sustain its aging fleet, which faces increasing obsolescence, ” DSCA notified Congress on Nov. 8.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency says the proposal involves the sale of 20 stretched-fuselage C-130J-30 transports and five KC-130J tankers and associated equipment and services.
(Click Here, to browse other GovCon Wire stories about the C-130J.)
According to Flightglobal’s database, the Saudi air force operates 31 H-model Hercules transports and seven KC-130H tankers, the oldest of which entered service in 1973.
The potential sale would make Saudi Arabia the latest Gulf state to acquire the new-generation Hercules.
The United Arab Emirates has already chosen the C-130J and Oman and Qatar are already using the transport aircraft. Iraq and Kuwait have the aircraft on order, according to the article.
