On this picture supplied by the Australian Defence Drive a AC-130 Hercules plane practices touchdown on the filth airstrip at Benning Area throughout Train Northern Station 2007 close to Townsville, Australia, Sept. 25, 2007. Australia stated Monday, July 24, 2023, it can purchase 20 new C-130 Hercules from the USA in a 9.8 billion Australian greenback ($6.6 billion) deal that may improve by two-thirds the scale of the Australian air pressure’s fleet of its second-largest heavy transport plane. (ADF by way of AP)
On this picture supplied by the Australian Defence Drive a AC-130 Hercules plane practices touchdown on the filth airstrip at Benning Area throughout Train Northern Station 2007 close to Townsville, Australia, Sept. 25, 2007. Australia stated Monday, July 24, 2023, it can purchase 20 new C-130 Hercules from the USA in a 9.8 billion Australian greenback ($6.6 billion) deal that may improve by two-thirds the scale of the Australian air pressure’s fleet of its second-largest heavy transport plane. (ADF by way of AP)
On this picture supplied by the Australian Defence Drive a AC-130 Hercules plane practices touchdown on the filth airstrip at Benning Area throughout Train Northern Station 2007 close to Townsville, Australia, Sept. 25, 2007. Australia stated Monday, July 24, 2023, it can purchase 20 new C-130 Hercules from the USA in a 9.8 billion Australian greenback ($6.6 billion) deal that may improve by two-thirds the scale of the Australian air pressure’s fleet of its second-largest heavy transport plane. (ADF by way of AP)
On this picture supplied by the Australian Defence Drive a AC-130 Hercules plane practices touchdown on the filth airstrip at Benning Area throughout Train Northern Station 2007 close to Townsville, Australia, Sept. 25, 2007. Australia stated Monday, July 24, 2023, it can purchase 20 new C-130 Hercules from the USA in a 9.8 billion Australian greenback ($6.6 billion) deal that may improve by two-thirds the scale of the Australian air pressure’s fleet of its second-largest heavy transport plane. (ADF by way of AP)
Australia says it can purchase 20 new C-130 Hercules planes from the USA in a $6.6 billion deal that may improve by two-thirds the variety of the Australian air pressure’s second-largest heavy transport plane
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia stated Monday it can purchase 20 new C-130 Hercules from the USA in a 9.8 billion Australian greenback ($6.6 billion) deal that may improve by two-thirds the scale of the Australian air pressure’s fleet of its second-largest heavy transport plane.
The announcement follows the U.S. Congress’ approval final 12 months of a bigger sale of 24 of the Lockheed Martin-manufactured propellor-driven plane.
The USA and Australia are presently conducting their biennial Talisman Sabre army train alongside the Australian coast that this 12 months entails 13 nations and greater than 30,000 personnel as world considerations intensify over an more and more assertive China.
The primary of the brand new four-engine Hercules is predicted to be delivered in 2027 and the brand new plane will ultimately substitute the fleet of 12 Hercules presently operated by the Royal Australian Air Drive from RAAF Base Richmond close to Sydney, Protection Business Minister Pat Conroy stated.
The acquisition “will virtually double the fleet and represents an enormous uplift in functionality, in mobility and transport for the Royal Australian Air Drive,” Conroy informed reporters.
“Virtually doubling the fleet offers us extra capability to deploy them on a number of operations on the identical time, and that’s the crucial driver,” Conroy added.
The Australian air pressure additionally operates eight of the bigger Boeing C-17A Globemaster heavy transport jet plane.
The deal was confirmed forward of U.S. Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken assembly with their Australian counterparts for annual talks late this week within the Australian metropolis of Brisbane.
It’s Blinken’s third journey to Asia in lower than two months, highlighting U.S. efforts to counter rising Chinese language affect within the area.
A better bilateral army relationship with Australia was underscored Saturday when the united statesCanberra was commissioned in Sydney. The Independence-variant littoral fight ship, constructed by Australian producer Austal, turned the primary U.S. warship to be commissioned in a overseas port.
The unique Canberra was a U.S. cruiser launched in 1943 and named after the Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra, which was torpedoed by the Japanese in 1942 with a lack of 193 lives whereas supporting U.S. Marines landings within the Solomon Islands. The Australian warship was named for Australia’s capital.
The Solomons are once more a safety concern for the USA and its allies over latest safety agreements that the South Pacific nation signed with China.
Conroy, who can be Australia’s minister for worldwide growth and the Pacific, flew to the Solomons later Monday to mark the twentieth anniversary of the arrival within the capital, Honiara, of an Australian-led pressure of Pacific Islands troops and police.
The Regional Assurance Mission to Solomon Islands was invited by the Solomons authorities to finish years of civil unrest. The pressure left in 2017, however Australian police and army personnel returned in late 2021 at Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s request to quell anti-government and anti-China rioting. Australian peacekeepers stay in Honiara.