DEFENSE/Taiwan Air Force to upgrade C-130s starting 2025: Source

Taipei, June 2 (CNA) Taiwan's Air Force is planning to spend billions of Taiwan dollars to upgrade its existing C-130 military transport aircraft fleet starting next year to enhance its collision avoidance and sea rescue capabilities among other systems, a source familiar with the matter told CNA Sunday.

The planned overhaul of the Air Force's existing 20 C-130s is scheduled to take place from 2025 to 2030. The main focus will be on upgrading the warplanes so they have integrated cockpits and improved sea rescue capabilities, according to the unnamed source.

In addition, C-130 simulators will be purchased and aging systems will be upgraded to ensure each plane has an updated GPS and improved position report capabilities and collision avoidance systems, the source added.

The estimated budget for the five-year project is still being finalized but it could surpass NT$10 billion (US$30.7 million), it said.

Taiwan's Air Force first bought 20 C-130Hs and another C-130HE, a modified electronic warfare aircraft, from the United States in the early 1980s. The first batch of 12 C-130Hs entered into service in Taiwan in 1986.

The force lost one of its 20 C-130H, serial number 1310, in a 1997 crash at Taipei Songshan Airport.

The Air Force C-130 fleet currently has a total of 20 such models that serve as the main transporter aircraft for the nation's armed forces.

C-130Hs have four Allison T56-A-15 turboprops with 4,591 prop shaft horsepower designed to take off and land on short runways. This means they can land on the 1,150-meter airstrip at Taiping Island, a Taiwan-controlled island known internationally as Itu Aba, in the disputed South China Sea.