First of five C-130Hs delivered to the Polish Air Force
In September 2019, the Polish Ministry of Defense issued a Letter of Request to the US for acquiring five C-130H transport aircraft. On 13 April 2021, the Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blasczak signed a government-to-government contract with the US for the delivery of these five Lockheed C-130H Hercules' to the Sily Powietrzne RP (Polish Air Force). This contract is part of the US Excess Defense Articles grant programme and has a total value of USD 14.3 million.
The first C-130H was expected to arrive in 2021, but it finally arrived on Friday 15 July 2022, at Wojskowe Zaklady Lotnicze Nr.2 (WZL2), Bydgoszcz. The aircraft will undergo a PDM periodic inspection before being put into service. The final delivery is scheduled for mid-2024. All C-130s will be based at Powidz air base where they will be added to 33.BLTr. This transport squadron is using five ageing C-130Es which are fifteen years older than the C-130Hs Poland is acquiring now.
The five aircraft involved were produced in 1985 and decommissioned in 2017. They are currently stored at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility in Tucson (AZ). At AMARG, the aircraft will be partially retrofitted with new equipment, made airworthy and fly over to Poland. The serial number of the first ferried C-130H is 85-0035. Scramble expects that the Polish serial number will be 1509 to continue the numbering initiated with the first C-130E.
Photo: WZL2