Friday, February 27, 2015

US confirms Ethiopian C-130E Hercules donation

(Feb 27, 2015, (Defense Web))--United States embassy officials in Addis Ababa have confirmed that the Ethiopian government has received a single Lockheed C-130E Hercules transport aircraft from the United States for tactical airlift of troops and equipment to support Ethiopian participation in AU and UN peacekeeping operations.

The aircraft was previously operated by the Puerto Rico National Guard where it was flown by the 198th Airlift Squadron, according to Air Forces Daily. After retirement from the US Air Force, it was put in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, in September, 2013, having flown a total of 22 739 flight hours.

Early the following year it was taken out of storage and prepared for delivery to Ethiopia. The aircraft in early June 2014 flew to Ethiopia, making stops in Canada and the United Kingdom.

A statement from the US embassy in Addis Ababa said the donation came with full training support for Ethiopian pilots, technicians and engineers with specially focused programmes on navigation and maintenance processes. An embassy spokesperson said there are no existing plans to provide any additional aircraft. Read more from Defense Web » 
 

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