Poland wants to order 5 C-130Hs from the American Lockheed

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The Polish authorities have sent a formal request regarding the acquisition of 5 C-130H transport aircraft to the American authorities, followed by a second concerning the acquisition of 60 launchers and 185 Javelin anti-tank missiles. In addition, Warsaw intends to expand its C-130 fleet by 5 aircraft within 5 years, to have 10 C-130Hs in the second part of the coming decade. Air transport is the weak component of the Polish Air Force, with only 5 C-130Es acquired second-hand from the US Air Force and 16 C-296s from Airbus having more limited capabilities. In addition, the C-130H can be converted to a tanker version, a capability that the Polish Air Force does not have today.

If European anti-tank missile solutions exist, such as MBDA's MMP, it is difficult to make a negative judgment on Poland's C-130 order, because there simply is no equivalent offer in Europe. The Airbus C-295 is much lighter, while the A400M, although much more efficient, is also 4 times more expensive. We can also wonder about the reasons which led the Europeans to leave the United States with a monopoly on medium transport planes, as they did on heavy helicopters. With almost 150 C-130s in service with European forces today, and 2500 aircraft delivered (2015), the market was clearly more than there, and Lockheed was not asking as much to remain the world's leading company. Defense….

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