(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Jordan on Monday received two US-manufactured C-130E cargo aircraft as part of its efforts to upgrade the Royal Jordanian Air Force's (RJAF) heavy-duty cargo air fleet.
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Mashal Al Zaben yesterday presided over the handover ceremony, which was also attended by HRH Prince Feisal, US Ambassador to Jordan Stuart Jones, and RJAF Commander Major General Malek Habashneh.
The two C-130 aircraft landed at Marka Airport, jointly crewed by RJAF pilots and US Air Force crews from the Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas.
These aircraft will help the RJAF perform its wide-range logistical duties, mainly the transportation of Jordanian soldiers taking part in the UN's humanitarian peacekeeping missions around the world, according to officials.
Jordanian peacekeepers are currently participating in UN missions in Afghanistan, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Congo, Liberia and Libya.
A third C-130E is scheduled to arrive in Jordan in the spring of 2012, according to the US embassy in Amman, which said in a statement yesterday that with the handover of theses $45 million aircraft, the RJAF now has seven C-130s in its fleet.
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