Lockheed Martin has rolled the first C-130J-30 military transport plane out of the paint shop for French Air Force.

The contracts awarded on 1 December are for USD133.4 million and USD36.6 million, and cover the procurement of two stretched C-130J-30 airlifters and for configuration changes to two C-130J-30 airlifters and two KC-130J tankers respectively.

Work on the contract will be performed at Marietta, Ga. U.S. government officials expect the work to be done by Aug. 30, 2020. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is listed as the contracting activity.

According to the Janes, the French Air Force is purchasing four C/KC-130J aircraft to supplement its ageing Transall C-160s, and to compensate for delays to the Airbus Defence and Space A400M transport aircraft and the low availability of its current fleet of C-130Hs.