BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's armed forces will spend almost 970 million euros ($1.14 billion) buying six C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, which in contrast to the A400M from Airbus can land on smaller, more rocky landing strips, a parliamentary source said on Wednesday.
The budget committee of the Bundestag lower house of parliament gave the green light for the procurement of the machines from U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the source told Reuters.
The package includes the procurement of spare parts, maintenance of the aircraft in the first three years and the initial training of technical and aviation personnel.
The C-130 Hercules will stationed in Evreux in Normandy where France already operates the same type of aircraft.
Germany sharply curtailed military spending after the end of the Cold War, but began boosting spending again after Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014.
A report this year found missing spare parts and quality defects mean less than half of Germany's submarines, warplanes and some other key weapons are ready for use.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Michelle Martin)