The Turkish Ministry of National Defense (MND) has confirmed that its long-expected plan to acquire 12 ex-Royal Air Force (RAF) C-130J-10 Hercules transport aircraft is going ahead as planned.
During a weekly press briefing in Ankara on 16 October 2025, MND spokesman Rear Admiral Zeki Akturk stated that the aircraft “will be gradually incorporated into our air force inventory following the completion of maintenance and modernisation in the United Kingdom under the signed contract”.
The overhaul of the ex-RAF extended-fuselage C-130J-30s is being conducted by the UK’s Marshall Aerospace, which specialises in C-130 maintenance, repair and overhaul work.
Rear Adm Akturk added that the “maintenance and upkeep of the C-130J aircraft will be carried out with domestic and national resources following type training”.
The RAF ordered its first C-130J aircraft in 1994, with the initial order consisting of 10 standard C-130Js and 15 C-130J-30s; the first of these arrived at RAF Lyneham in 1998.
However, to save funding following its acquisition of 22 larger Airbus A400M transports from 2014, the RAF decided to divest its fleet of C-130Js and retired them in June 2023.
The Turkish Air Force currently operates 18 C-130B/E aircraft as well as its own fleet of 10 A400Ms. The dozen ex-RAF C-130J-30s will presumably replace some of the older C-130s and allow the Turkish Air Force to preserve the flight hours of its A400M fleet.
