The UK Royal Air Force’s remaining Lockheed Martin C-130K tactical transports will be formally retired next week, with its last two examples having made their final operational flights on 25 October.
Operated from Brize Norton air base in Oxfordshire, the RAF’s final K-model Hercules will be flown to St Athan in south Wales on 29 October.
The RAF began operating its first C-130Ks in 1966. The type will be replaced by the service’s future fleet of 22 Airbus Military A400Ms, the first of which is scheduled to be delivered to Brize Norton in September 2014. It also expects to continue flying its new-generation C-130Js until around 2022.
Flightglobal’s Ascend Online Fleets database records the air forces of Austria, Mexico and Sri Lanka as continuing to operate the C-130K.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
