Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has pushed back against criticisms of his decision to cut the UK’s last remaining C-130J Hercules transport aircraft, which critics say would leave the country “dangerously exposed.”
Wallace announced the decision in March 2021. He told the House of Commons at the time, “As the transport fleet improves availability, we will retire the C-130J Hercules in 2023 after 24 years’ service—22 A400Ms alongside the C-17 will provide a more capable and flexible transport fleet.”
A Royal Air Force Airbus A400M Atlas military cargo aircraft, carrying evacuees from Afghanistan, departs from Al-Maktoum International Airport on August 19, 2021. (Giuseppe Cacae/AFP via Getty Images)
But a Sky News report cited internal documents as showing that the Atlas A400M—manufactured by Airbus—is “plagued by problems,” with two-thirds of the fleet listed as unavailable for flying missions in early May….