THE MALAYSIAN air force has purchased five of Lockheed Martin's nine remaining unsold C-130H Hercules transport aircraft, say local sources.
Lockheed Martin reveals that it has only four military transports, together with two civil L-100s, left to place, after recently selling five stretched C-130-30Hs. The aircraft are the last H models built before production switched to the new C-130J.
The company has refused to identify the buyer of the aircraft, but defence sources in Kuala Lumpur confirm that the Royal Malaysian Air Force is the customer and that it expects to take delivery of all five by December.
Malaysia already operates nine C-130s, but plans to convert two to in-flight-refueling tankers. It urgently needs additional transport aircraft, to support the country's United Nations peacekeeping commitment, in Bosnia.
Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, has offered the four remaining C-130s to several interested countries, including Japan, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
The company is confident of selling the remaining aircraft before the end of the year.
Source: Flight International
