The Poles have the impression of having been fooled with the US C130s…

(BRUXELLES2) Devices in perfect working order, at a friendly price. A case ! This is what the Poles believed when they signed this contract for the supply of transport equipment with the Americans, refurbished Hercules C130Es. The reality is slightly different. First of all, the order was honored late. Covering five aircraft, it is not always completed (1) and should not be before the end of 2011. This causes discontent in the ranks of the Polish Air Force, which relied on its aircraft in particular for Afghanistan. Then, the price of the invoice increased proportionally with the delay... From $94 million, it rose to $111,5 million, this without counting the rental of replacement aircraft that the Americans agreed to take in load (2). What the Poles refuse, even if the starting price was not very expensive: a friendly price. Finally, the reliability does not seem to be there...

The devices are not young or extremely reliable. It's the least we can say... Of the two aircraft currently in Afghanistan, one is grounded, still waiting to be repaired, when the repair should have been completed at the end of January. The second of the aircraft made an emergency landing in early February at the Mazar-e-Sharif base, following a breakdown that could have cost the life of its crew. To the point that the Polish safety commission considered it wiser to forbid them to fly until all the light was shed.

C130s hurt their spares. According to the daily Rzeczpospolita, the head of the air force, General Andrzew Błazik, moreover, warned the Polish Ministry of Defense that these “planes are in poor condition. There are a lot of failures with the C130,” he explains. Another problem mentioned, the "lack of spare parts (...) which causes the aircraft to be immobilized" (NB: a common problem in many European fleets, for the Transalls as well).

(1) Read also: The American C130s for Poland are late. Them too ! (September 2009)
(2) A large part is supported by the US program: The American C130 Hercules delivered to Poland from March (March 2009)