26 Januari 2011
Malaysia has a legacy fleet of 14 C-130H/Ts (photo : ADF)
UK maintenance, repair and overhaul company Marshall Aerospace has revealed details of its bid to modernise the capabilities of Malaysia's Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical transports.
Marshall says it hosted Royal Malaysian Air Force chief of staff Gen Tan Sri Dato' Sri Rodzali bin Daud in a visit to its Cambridge airport facilities on 10 January.
The company has identified a Malaysian requirement "for an upgrade of their C-130H avionics to provide a capability to fly in CNS/ATM [communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management] airspace", says head of business development Peter Taylor.
Marshall has recently conducted an extensive avionics and cockpit upgrade on two refurbished C-130Hs for the Royal Netherlands Air Force and will perform the same work on two more Dutch aircraft. Last year it identified a possible market to offer a similar service to Hercules operators in Asia, Europe and North Africa.
The Royal Malaysian Air Force has an active fleet of 12 C-130H/H-30s and two C-130T tankers, as listed in Flightglobal's MiliCAS database. The five oldest of these entered service in 1976, it says.
As well as operating its Hercules fleet, Malaysia is the lone export buyer for Airbus Military's larger A400M. Kuala Lumpur has ordered four of the European type.