2018 onwards: the Belgian C-130 Hercules retirement thread...

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stratofreighter
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2018 onwards: the Belgian C-130 Hercules retirement thread...

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http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articl ... sport.html
(Source: Belga; published Jan 16, 2018)

(Issued in Dutch; unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com)

The Belgian military has withdrawn its first Lockheed C-130H Hercules transport aircraft from service.

This is the first step towards the conversion to the Airbus A400M Atlas,
which will be delivered from 2020 onwards.

The aircraft, registered CH-08,
has been in service since February 1973 and was retired on 27 December 2017.
It is at Beauvechain/Bevekom now.

The aircraft has 22,219 flight hours on the counter and needed to undergo major maintenance, which takes 6 to 7 months.

To avoid these high costs, it was eventually opted not to use it anymore.

"This take-out does not have an immediate effect on our support for operations," the air force emphasized.

The Belgian fleet is now reduced to ten C-130s,
which are used for tactical transport and operated by 21st Squadron of the 15th Air Transport Wing in Melsbroek.

"The CH-08 will be used in the form of spare parts for the benefit of the rest of the fleet", it says.

"In this way, the availability of the other aircraft will be improved, and they will therefore be operational for longer."

In time, the entire fleet of C-130s - a total of 250,300 flight hours - will be retired and replaced by the A400M from Airbus.
From 2020, eight A400Ms will be delivered.

The 15 Air Transport Wing will also lose five passenger planes in the coming years. In the future it will be opted to work with rented equipment.

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