A behind-the-scenes look at the new Franco-German C-130J unit

High-ranking military figures from France and Germany have laid the foundation stone of the future Franco-German Tactical Transport Squadron (TTS), the first bi-national squadron of its kind in Europe.

The Franco-German TTS will operate five Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules and five KC-130J refueling tankers by 2024. Four of the ten aircraft are already in service with Transport Squadron (ET) 02.061 ‘Franche-Comté’ of France’s Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace. The remaining six aircraft (three C-130J-30s and three KC-130Js) have not yet been ordered by the German government for the Luftwaffe.

Franco-German C-130J Unit [Babak Taghvaee]
The Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace’s first KC-130J (serial 5874) in the foreground and first C-130J-30 (5836) in the background, on the main ramp of Orléans air base on September 19, 2019. Babak Taghvaee

Florence Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces, and General Philippe Lavigne, Chief of Staff of the Armée de l'Air et de l’Espace, were joined by their German counterparts, Annegret Kramp- Karrenbauer, German Federal Minister of Defence, and Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force, for a special ceremony at Evreux Air Base (BA105) in Normandy on September 17, 2020.

 

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