Civil certification was not a regulatory requirement and was unneeded for the RAF launch order. To speed up the sale of military and commercial versions of the aircraft, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) civil certification was pursued before delivery would happen. The promised deliveries of the C-130J allowed the British Ministry of Defence to meet the 1996 deadline for replacing half of the RAF's aging fleet of Hercules aircraft, while the FLA aircraft was not expected to be available at the time until 2003. The RAF ordered 25 aircraft for a total fixed price of US$1.6 billion, with first deliveries originally scheduled to begin in November 1996. The FLA commitment, which reduced the size of the C-130J launch order, was intended to ensure a 20 percent British workshare in the FLA program, and to prevent German industry from threatening British Aerospace's position as the wing manufacturer on the FLA and future Airbus commercial projects. It was paired with a commitment to buy 40 to 50 of the proposed European Future Large Aircraft aircraft (FLA, which was later designated as the A400M). The C-130J launch order occurred after a UK government stalemate of several months that concerned whether to buy new transport aircraft from Europe or the United States. On 16 December 1994, Lockheed received the launch order for the J-model from the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF).
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