Australia will purchase 20 C-130J Hercules transport aircraft from the US to replace its current aging fleet, reinforcing long-running military ties between Canberra and Washington ahead of high-level security meetings later this week.
Defense Minister Richard Marles on Monday announced the purchase, worth A$9.8 billion ($6.6 billion), with the first of the new aircraft expected to be delivered by 2027.
Marles, who is also Australia’s deputy prime minister, said the aircraft would be based in the eastern state of New South Wales, from where they will be used in “search and rescue missions, disaster relief and medical evacuation.”
The announcement comes amid a series of top-level military exercises and meetings involving Australia and the US which began in recent days. The biennial Talisman Sabre exercises began off the northern coast of Australia on Saturday, featuring more than 30,000 troops from more than a dozen countries including a large contingent from the US.
On Saturday, the US took the rare step of commissioning an American navy warship outside of the country, with the USS Canberra being officially christened in Sydney. US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy said at the commissioning that the US and Australia had been working together to preserve the “rules-based order” for more than a century.
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Later this week, top officials from the US and Australia will gather for the annual AUSMIN bilateral talks on defense and foreign policy. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are expected to meet in Brisbane with their Australian counterparts, Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
The purchase of the C-130J Hercules aircraft are the latest in a series of high-profile military deals made between Canberra and Washington. In March, the US approved the sale of as many as 220 Tomahawk missiles to Australia, worth $895 million, while Australia is expecting the first of 40 Black Hawk helicopters to be delivered by the end of 2023.
