TR Air Forces|News & Discussion

[Sanchez]

Great video. But we should remember that as of June 2026, we only have 10 active large tactical airlifters in service and C-130s are still out.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2063549913237971303

 

[TR_123456]

Great video. But we should remember that as of June 2026, we only have 10 active large tactical airlifters in service and C-130s are still out.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2063549913237971303

No news from Embraer regarding the C390?

 

[Sanchez]

No news from Embraer regarding the C390?

Apart from air force chief's visit to Portugal last month, nothing.

 

[Sanchez]

Çiğli AFB, 2.th AJÜ along with Air Training Command and Air Technical Schools Command to be moved to Manisa Akhisar. Weird thing is the news being broken by the AKP's district official. Strategy wise, probably a safer location.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2065318370350628933

 

[Khagan1923]

Apart from air force chief's visit to Portugal last month, nothing.

I wouldn't expect any news on any possible procurement until NATO Summit has concluded. Either we will hear and read about a massive purchase from the Americans (KC-46A, C-130J, F-16, F110 and so on) or we will hear the same phrases we have heard for the last 3-4 years now regarding all this.

If the latter happens I would expect headway to be made on things like C-390, possibly more A400M and A330 MRTT+ in the near future.

 

[Pokemonte13]

I wouldn't expect any news on any possible procurement until NATO Summit has concluded. Either we will hear and read about a massive purchase from the Americans (KC-46A, C-130J, F-16, F110 and so on) or we will hear the same phrases we have heard for the last 3-4 years now regarding all this.

If the latter happens I would expect headway to be made on things like C-390, possibly more A400M and A330 MRTT+ in the near future.

new c130j are not happening as c390 are better and almost cost the same. More A400m are also unlikely simply because they are to expensive to buy and maintain its really about C390 and which tanker the airforce chooses (KC46 or A330). F16 purchase is currently on hold because LM prices are off the charts and not to mention all new purchases have to through congress.

 

[Sanchez]

F16 purchase is currently on hold because LM prices are off the charts and not to mention all new purchases have to through congress.

A 20+bn F-16 sale already cleared the congress years ago.

 

[Strong AI]

Instead of 40 new Viper we should buy 20 more Eurofighter.

 

[Sanchez]

new c130j are not happening as c390 are better and almost cost the same

Greece will pay 600 million euros for 3 C-390s and a "first logistical package" by the way. C-390 is more expensive and if we ordered fresh built C-130Js we would have commonality with ex-RAF C-130s.

 

[Fairon]

Greece will pay 600 million euros for 3 C-390s and a "first logistical package" by the way. C-390 is more expensive and if we ordered fresh built C-130Js we would have commonality with ex-RAF C-130s.

Speaking of which, any news on the C-130Js?

They were getting overhaul but is there any update on that?

 

[Sanchez]

Speaking of which, any news on the C-130Js?

They were getting overhaul but is there any update on that?

They were getting overhauled, I believe they would have a wingbox change as well and we know that few months ago TurAF technicians flew to UK for training. No timeline is provided, but work is being done concurrently on the airframes. We should remember that wingbox replacement is a very very arduous task, it's the spine replacement equivalent for an aircraft, very labor intensive, can take up to a year to complete. Marshall on their website claim that the process currently takes 10 months.

Deal was signed in October 2025, I'd expect the first or first two aircraft reaching Konya no earlier than Q4 2026, more realistically Q1-2 2027. We reallyyy need to sort out C-130B-Es.

 

[mTT]

Çiğli AFB, 2.th AJÜ along with Air Training Command and Air Technical Schools Command to be moved to Manisa Akhisar. Weird thing is the news being broken by the AKP's district mayor. Strategy wise, probably a safer location.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2065318370350628933

Ministry of National Defence:
"Reports in the press stating that the 2nd Main Jet Base Command and Flight School, based in Çiğli, İzmir, are to be relocated to the Akhisar district of Manisa are incorrect. Work is continuing to enhance the capabilities of the Akhisar Airfield Command in Manisa and utilise them more effectively in line with growing requirements. This is respectfully announced to the public."

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2065421916182102466

 

[Sanchez]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2065421916182102466

So Akhisar will also be announced as an AJÜ like Dalaman before it and there will be a transfer of some capability there, but not clear if command structure will be carried over just yet. That's probably because it will be, but it's not yet officially announced. Most fun thinbg is, I think we now have more AJÜs than we have fighter squadrons. Not very nice. I'd like to learn more about the reasoning behind turning all secondary bases to AJÜs.

 

[Yasar_TR]

Greece will pay 600 million euros for 3 C-390s and a "first logistical package" by the way. C-390 is more expensive and if we ordered fresh built C-130Js we would have commonality with ex-RAF C-130s.

US approves $2.2 billion sale of C-130J aircraft to Egypt

The State Department has also OK'd the possible $355 million sale of air defense radar systems to the key Middle East ally.

www.defensenews.com

2.2 billion, inflation corrected for today means 2.5billion. That is 210million per C130J.

https://www.amphenol-aerospace.com/products/australia-opts-to-purchase-20-new-c-130j-hercules-transport-aircraft

Australia pays 6.6 billion for 20 C130Js in 2023. That is 330 million dollars without inflation corrected.

It has a lot to do with what you add as extra to the order sheet.
But it all depends on which plane is best suited to our needs.

In 2023 Austria bought four C-390 planes each costing 130million.
India were offered 80million a piece for 60 C390s December 2025.
Only last month UAE signed a contract for 700million dollars for 10 C-390planes.

Embraer Lands $700M C-390 Order from UAE in Largest Single-Country Deal

Embraer C-390 UAE deal: 10 firm jets plus 10 options worth $700M, the largest single-country C-390 order. Shares jumped 3.49% on the Abu Dhabi signing.

www.riotimesonline.com

Figures put Embraer to be cheaper than C130Js.

 

[dBSPL]

Procurement cost comparisons in this space tend to conflate package values with airframe prices. Full programme figures routinely bundle simulators, initial spare parts pools, training pipelines and multi-year support contracts, making raw per-unit extrapolations misleading. The cleaner reference remains Austria's confirmed band of €130-150M per airframe, which places the C-390 and C-130J in a narrower acquisition band than is often assumed.

Where the C-390's structural case becomes genuinely compelling is not at the point of purchase but across the operating cost envelope. Cost per flight hour, CPFH, and lifecycle maintenance burden tell a different story: two V2500 turbofans drawing on a deep commercial MRO ecosystem versus four AE2100D turboprops on a purely military supply chain is a meaningful structural difference over a 30-year fleet life. The honest caveat is that independent, verified CPFH data for the C-390 doesn't yet exist at scale. Embraer's own case studies point in the right direction, but we're still in the early innings of building an operational evidence base.

(...)
Passing up the co-development offer from Brazil for the C-390 was such a idiotic decision.

Khagan1923 is right on the substance, even if the framing understates how consequential the decision actually was. The missed window wasn't just about getting a cheaper airframe. When Türkiye was at the table as a potential co-development partner, Embraer needed anchor customers and industrial credibility. That leverage doesn't exist anymore in the same form.

There is, however, one window that hasn't fully closed. The co-development opportunity is no longer what it was, Embraer now enters any partnership conversation from a position of genuine commercial strength, with a growing NATO customer base and an order book that has removed much of the early-programme risk it once carried. That changes the terms of engagement. But the doctrine-shaping customer role is still available, and it is a different kind of leverage.

Every C-390 operator so far, Portugal, the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria, South Korea, Sweden, has procured the platform for standard airlift requirements. Nobody has yet brought a serious SOF integration package, an electronic mission variant requirement, or a MALE support platform concept to Embraer with the fleet volume to back it up. That kind of customer generates a fundamentally different conversation with the manufacturer than a three-airframe order does.

Türkiye, when it eventually enters a C-390 procurement, will not be a single-digit buyer. A TurAF order at meaningful scale, paired with operationally specific requirements drawn from its actual doctrine, gives it something no current C-390 operator has offered: the combination of volume and mission depth that pushes a manufacturer toward variants it wouldn't otherwise prioritise.

That is where the broader strategic question connects. A large, doctrinally demanding customer doesn't just buy an aircraft, it shapes the platform's development trajectory. Push that logic far enough and you arrive at a different category of conversation entirely: not medium tactical airlift, but potentially even the heavy strategic transport gap that no Western programme is currently addressing. That is the thread worth pulling on, and it is one I outlined earlier in this discussion.