Marshall Aerospace and Defence to Ready Aircraft
In a ceremony held at the Royal International Air Tattoo on 19 July, Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group facilitated the signature of an agreement between the UK and US for the supply of a C-130J HERCULES aircraft to the US Navy (USN).
The aircraft is to become the replacement for the iconic FAT ALBERT C-130T used over the last 17 years as a support aircraft by the USN Blue Angels demonstration/aerobatics team. The team’s existing aircraft was retired in May and the replacement aircraft has been purchased by the USN from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). Marshall will conduct the necessary modifications, maintenance and repainting to meet USN requirements and is set to deliver it to the customer early next year.
Maj-Gen Gregory L Masiello, Program Executive Officer for Air, ASW, Assault and Special Mission Programs, expressed his service’s gratitude “to both the UK MoD and Marshall for enabling this transaction and [we] know that the C-130 HERCULES will be a valuable addition to our flying demonstration team.”