Fighter jet may seem more glamorous than non-combat aircraft. But believe it or not, non-combat jet products are often more profitable for investors.
Take for example the C-130. Since 1954, Lockheed Martin has built and sold about 2,500 C-130 Hercules. With an average price of US $ 30 million per unit which is not far adrift with US $ 38 million for the F-14 is built Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC). And Lockheed has sold three times as many C-130s as Northrop sold F-14s.
There are many players in the class of non-combat aircraft, especially air transport. We’ll try to look at the 10 best in the world seen from the level of sales.
Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, List price: $68.1 million
Lockheed’s C-130 remains hands down the most popular military aircraft (that isn’t a fighter jet) on the planet.
According to the latest stats from Flightglobal Insight’s “World Air Forces” report (link leads to a free download of the report), 947 of these big birds are flying around the world today — down only slightly from this time last year. What’s more, between improvements made in the aircraft, and the inexorable march of inflation, BGA-Aeroweb reports that C-130J Super Hercules aircraft sell for more than twice what the aircraft has cost, on average, over its history: $68.1 million, each.
Lockheed’s C-130 leads the world with 22% global market share in military transports, which is more than three times the share of its closest rival.
Textron Beechcraft King Air, List price: $7.7 million
Speaking of its closest rival, entering the rankings at No. 2 is the most popular small turboprop transport, Beechcraft’s King Air. The Beechcraft (now owned by Textron)) holds a 7% share of the global market for military transports. What’s more, as the number of C-130s flying shrank slightly last year, Beechcraft’s fleet expanded.
302 King Airs are now in service around the world, up from 295 a year ago.
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, price: $225 million
Rounding out America’s top 3 military transport producers, to the surprise of exactly no one, is Boeing’s (NYSE:BA) world-famous C-17. With only 269 planes in service worldwide, the C-17 “Globemaster” actually only masters 6% of the global market. But that number is up by six from last year.
Airbus CN-235, List price: $23 million
Turning now to America’s first serious rival in military aircraft — that are not fighter jets — our first challenger is European aerospace champion Airbus (NASDAQOTH:EADSY).
At a list price just one-tenth that of the C-17, Airbus calls its CN235 the world’s “lowest cost tactical airlifter.” This low cost has helped it win military customers in more than two dozen nations. Together with the larger C295, 261 units of the planes are in service globally, giving this airframe a 6% market share, similar to the C-17’s.
Antonov An-26 Curl, price: $150,000 (on the resale market)
Russia’s no slouch in the air transport department, and has several contenders in the top 10 list. First up is this An-26. Nearly three decades after it went out of production, 240 “Curls” remain in service (this figure includes the predecessor aircraft, the AN-24 Coke).
Curiously, that’s two more aircraft than Flightglobal reported last year, indicating that at least two aircraft, previously defunct, have been returned to service. An-26 models now command 5% market share worldwide.
Ilyushin Il-76, price: ~$50 million
The venerable Ilyushin Il-76 is nearly as popular, and since it’s still in production, could one day overtake the An-26 in popularity. The workhorse of the mid-1970s Red Army, 167 Il-76s are still flying today. This gives the Il-76 a 4% global market share.
Antonov An-32 Cline, price: $12 million
Antonov’s An-32 “Cline” and An-30 “Clank,” (no, they didn’t pick these names themselves. NATO did it for them) were developed from the An-26 and An-24, respectively. They’re said to be especially useful for their ability to take off in high-altitude environments, such as Afghanistan. Collectively, the aircraft number 140 around the globe, and command a 3% share of the military transports market.
Textron Cessna 208 Caravan, price: $1.6 million
Making its second appearance on this list, Textron offers another popular plane to foreign buyers in the form of its Cessna 208. According to deagel.com, Textron has built more than 2,000 of these planes since production began in 1985, most for civilian use. According to Flightglobal, 128 of them are in service with militaries around the world. Market share: 3%.
Transall Allianz C-160, price: $7 million (in 1970)
Popular in Germany and France, which began building the planes back in the 1960s, 119 Transall C-160s are still flying today and command 3% global market share. The plane is no longer in production, and up until last year, it was thought that the French and Germans would be replacing it with the new Airbus A400M military transport. Instead, the French have begun buying Lockheed’s C-130 Hercules.
CASA C212 Aviocar, price: $4.2 million
Rounding out our list of the top 10 is the C-212 Aviocar, originally built by Spain’s Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA and manufactured today by the Spanish branch of Airbus Military — and also by Indonesian Aerospace, which builds the plane under license. Only 94 units of the twin-engine turboprop are still in military service (unchanged from last year), but they’re widely dispersed among some three dozen national militaries around the globe — and still command a 2% global market share
