TSAMTO, December 17. On December 14, a BTA C-130H Hercules aircraft, donated to the Romanian Air Force by the US government, landed at the Aurel Vlaicu Bucharest Banyasa International Airport.
According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, when flying to Bucharest, the plane was piloted by the crew of the 120th Air Wing of the Montana National Guard. After landing, the aircraft was handed over to the specialists of ROMAERO S.A. to bring it into compliance with the standards of the Romanian Air Force. The aircraft will join the combat structure of the 901st strategic Aviation Squadron of the 90th Air Base and will increase the capabilities for air transportation of troops and cargo.
The delivery of the aircraft took place within the framework of the Foreign Military Sales Program (FMS) after the parties signed a "Letter of Proposal and Acceptance of the proposal", which was agreed upon for several years.
The transfer of the aircraft was approved by the US Congress as part of the limitation of the fleet of C-130 aircraft in the US Air Force. The C-130 Ramp-to-Ramp (R2R) transfer program is the first U.S. Air Force program involving the transfer of fully usable aircraft to key partner countries. The first aircraft in the framework of the R2R format was delivered in April 2021. To date, the United States has delivered eight of the planned 30 aircraft to different countries of the world.
The C-130H will be the sixth Hercules aircraft in the Romanian Air Force. Currently, there are four C-130 in service in the "B" variant, one in the "H" variant.
The first C-130B landed in Romania on October 25, 1996, followed by three more aircraft of this modification. The first flight of the C-130 under the control of a Romanian crew took place on March 18, 1997. The C-130H was adopted by the Romanian Air Force on February 14, 2007.
The C-130, along with the C-27J Spartan, became the main means of supporting units of the Romanian Armed Forces participating in operations abroad. Aircraft were actively used to assist victims of natural disasters.
