The Ministry of Defence today (22 March) announced that the C-130 fleet which is serviced at Marshalls will be retired by 2023.

The Hercules fleet has been used on Special Forces operations in Iraq and Syria and is a plane that many in the military favour for being easy to take off and land in challenging environments. It has been a mainstay of Marshall for decades.

Now there are concerns for highly skilled Cambridge engineering jobs. It had been hoped the planes would remain in service for a longer period of time to allow Marshalls to grow other parts of its business.

Daniel Zeichner MP said:

“This is bad news for Marshall and for Cambridge, and another poor decision by the government. Sadly, it seems likely that high-skilled job losses will follow. It is the wrong decision. Other countries such as France are still buying the Hercules recognising its special capabilities which the A400M has yet to prove. The Ministry of Defence has a poor procurement record, and this is another mistake – they should think again.”