Yesterday afternoon, one of our team members, spotted a Polish Air Force C-130E (1502) at Bordeaux Merignac Airport. The Polish Air Force currently operates five C-130E’s that belong to the 14 th Airlift Squadron stationed at the 33 rd Transport Air Base located in Powidz. Six C-130Es were originally obtained, of which one was severely damaged beyond repair in Afghanistan in February 2010.
In mid-May 2019, Polish Air Force officials visited 309th Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis Monthan AFB (AZ) to consider the acquisition of five former USAF C-130H Hercules transport aircraft that are 15 years younger than the current Hercules in service with the Polish Air Force.
On 13 April 2021, the acting Polish Defence Minister signed a government-to-government contract with the US for the delivery of five Lockheed C-130H Hercules transport aircraft to the Polish Air Force. The five aircraft involved in this sale 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 first C-130H is expected to arrive in 2021 and the final delivery is scheduled for mid-2024. After arrival in Poland, they will be maintained in the WZL 2 facility at Bydgoszcz.
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