The US government has approved possible sale of a dozen C-130J Super Hercules aircraft and air defense radar systems to Egypt.
The C-130Js and related equipment that could be sold to Egypt are expected to cost about $2.2 billion, the US State Department said in a Tuesday release announcing the Foreign Military Sale approval, and the radar systems and related equipment have an estimated cost of $355 million.
Egypt asked to buy 12 Lockheed Martin-made C-130Js, each installed with four Rolls-Royce AE 2100D turboprop engines, as well as a dozen spare engines; GPS navigation systems; identification transponders; missile warning systems; countermeasure systems; and more.
Egypt wants to buy three SPS-48 land-based radar systems, spares, motor generators, repeaters, radomes and other equipment, the State Department said.
L3Harris Surveillance Systems of Van Nuys, California, would be the principal contractor in this sale.
Selling the C-130Js would help Egypt airlift supplies, equipment and people to better support its forces on missions such as border security and anti-terrorism, respond to internal security threats, and provide humanitarian aid.
The C-130s would also be used for maritime patrol as well as search and rescue missions.
The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) currently fields 22 C-130Hs, three C-130H-30s, and two EC-130H Hercules aircraft that were acquired from 1978, 1990, and 2001 respectively.
The fleet is operated by 4 and 16 squadrons of the Cairo International Airport Transport Regiment.
The proposed Foreign Military Sale must now be approved by the US Congress before a contract can be issued.
If approved, Egypt will join Tunisia and Algeria as the third operator of the C-130J in North Africa.
Algiers recently announced the delivery of the tactical transport aircraft on 23 January in a post on its official Facebook account, noting that this is the first of four aircraft that Algeria ordered in 2018.
This is the first time that details on the sale of C-130Js to Algeria are made public. The contract value remains undisclosed.
