The Minnesota Air National Guard is getting new airplanes to add to the fleet, after a multi-year effort by lawmakers to maintain and upgrade the state’s current aircraft.

The new aircraft, C-130J Super Hercules, are headed to four locations across the country. Those locations include Minnesota, which will receive eight of them.

After an environmental assessment is done, the Twin Cities 133rd Airlift wing will be getting the aircraft at a price tag of about $112 million per plane.

Currently, the local National Guard has 8 old C-130s, which are used to support missions abroad, or support at home during natural disasters.

The National Guard says the new planes will be a game changer – they can go farther, travel faster and hold more cargo.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) spoke Friday morning at a news conference about the new aircraft, saying they’ve been working to make this happen for years.

“It was a Super Hercules effort to get this done,” said Klobuchar.

A final decision is expected in the fiscal year of 2025.