Australia to grant RI four Hercules aircrafts

Mighty Hercules: A kindergarten teacher allows her students a close-up view of the hardware at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta earlier this year. The aircraft in the background is a Lockheed L-100 Hercules VIP transport aircraft, which is operated by the Air Force’s 17th VIP squadron. (Antara/SaptonoThe Australian government will grant four C-130 Hercules aircraft to Indonesia this year, a defense official says.

Defense Ministry spokesman Hartind Asrin said Tuesday that representatives from the two countries would meet later this month in Jakarta to discuss about the handover, antaranews.com reported.

The handover of the aircraft, which was initially scheduled to take place last year, was delayed until this year.

He said the two countries' representatives would also meet in Australia to inspect the aircraft directly.

The US, as the country of origin of the Hercules airplane producer, has also approved the deal, according to Hartind.