The United States has offered South Africa retired C-130H Hercules transport aircraft to replace its ageing C-130BZ fleet, with the South African Air Force (SAAF) presently considering the offer.
Africa Intelligence reported that the United States is offering a dozen 1980s-era C-130H transports under the Excess Defence Articles (EDA) programme.
“A team of South African Air Force technicians travelled to the United States last month (September) to scout available equipment and exchange views with their US Air Force (USAF) counterparts,” the publication reported.
African Defence Review Director Darren Olivier cautioned that the extremely low South African National Defence Force (SANDF) budget is the main limitation in pursuing this. He added that there are a number of factors that go into deciding whether to take up the US offer, including the fact that the C-130Hs would need upgrades before entering SAAF service.
“What’s presently unknown is whether the USAF has offered any grants for the aircraft (nominally +/- $12 million each) and the necessary upgrades. That’ll change the calculus dramatically, of course. My understanding is that a full grant is not on offer, but there may be discounts.”
Olivier noted that “no decision has yet been made, as it will depend on the post-inspection report and whether this does turn out to be more cost effective than upgrading the existing C-130BZs.”