Afghanistan. After Afghanistan evacuation mission, UK air force still not reexamining plans to retire C-130 (Valerie Insinna, Defense News) )

A British Royal Air Force Airbus A400M aircraft takes takes part in a flying display at the Farnborough Airshow, south west of London, on July 18, 2018. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images) (AFP/Getty Images)

The arduous airlift demands of the Afghanistan evacuation mission haven’t changed the U.K. Royal Air Force’s plans to retire its C-130s by 2030, its top officer said Aug. 27.

“This is the first large-scale operation that we’ve done with our A400s, and it’s demonstrated that this is an aircraft with real potential and enormous capacity,” said RAF Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston in an interview with Defense News. “It flies much higher and much faster and carries a greater payload than the C-130. So as every month goes by, my confidence in that decision increases.”

After Afghanistan evacuation mission, UK air force still not reexamining plans to retire C-130 (defensenews.com)