[News] Peru confirms the purchase of two Hercules aircraft from Spain

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The Government of Peru confirmed the purchase of two Hercules KC-130H aircraft from Spain for an approximate value of S / 126.7 million (about US $ 35 million) that will allow the expansion of its Air Force fleet.

The acquisition was approved by the interim president Francisco Sagasti in a decree published this Saturday in the official newspaper El Peruano that describes the operation "of national interest", although the details of the transaction were not published as they were classified as secret because it affected national security.

According to the decree, these aircraft will be used by the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) both for military operations and to attend disasters, fires, and other humanitarian operations, as will soon be the national distribution of batches of vaccines against COVID- 19.

These two Hercules KC-130H aircraft are part of the ten aircraft of this type that have recently been decommissioned by the Spanish Air Force to modernize its medium-range transport fleet with the incorporation of the Airbus A400.

Two other copies of this batch of ten Hercules were acquired by Uruguay, which was left with two of the C-130H type that lack a system to refuel other airplanes in mid-flight, as those bought by Peru do.

These Hercules came into operation in the 1970s, but were modernized at the beginning of this century to extend their operational life.

The new base for the two KC-130Hs in Peru will be Grupo Aéreo Number 8, the military base adjacent to the Lima airport where most of the Peruvian Air Force fleet is located.

With these additions, the FAP will increase its Hercules aircraft to four, as the two new aircraft will join the two L-100-20, the civilian version of the aircraft manufactured by the US company Lockheed, which recently completed 50 years of service.

In addition, the FAP medium-range transport fleet is completed by four C27-J Spartan, three Antonov An-32B and two Boeing 737s, one of them the presidential plane.