Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules

The Lockheed Martin C-130J "Super" Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft . The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the venerable Lockheed C-130 Hercules , with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The Hercules family has the longest continuous production run of any military aircraft in history. During more than 50 years of service, the family has participated in military, civilian and humanitarian aid operations. The Hercules has outlived several planned successor designs, most notably the Advanced Medium STOL Transport contestants.

Design and development

The C-130J is the newest version of the Hercules and the only model still in production. Externally similar to the classic Hercules in general appearance, the J model sports considerably updated technology. These differences include new Rolls-Royce AE 2100 D3 turboprop s with Dowty R391composite scimitar propeller s, digital avionics (including Head-Up Display s (HUDs) for each pilot) and reduced crew requirements (two pilots and one loadmaster—no navigator or flight engineer ). The United States Marine Corps utilizes a crew chief for expeditionary operations.

The aircraft can also be configured with the "enhanced cargo handling system". The system consists of a computerized load masters station from where the user can remotely control the under floor winch and also configure the flip floor system to palletized roller or flat floor cargo handling. The cargo compartment is approximately 41 feet (12.5 m) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) high, and 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, and loading is from the rear of the fuselage. Initially developed for the USAF, this system enables rapid role changes to be carried out and so extends the C-130J's time available to complete taskings. These combined changes have improved performance over its C-130E/H siblings, such as 40% greater range, 21% higher maximum speed, and 41% shorter take-off distance.

The C-130J is available in a standard-length or stretched ''-30'' variant. Lockheed Martin received the launch order for the J-model from the RAF, which ordered 25 aircraft, with first deliveries beginning in 1999 as Hercules C. Mk 4 (C-130J-30) and Hercules C. Mk 5 (C-130J).

The United States Air Force awarded a $470 million contract to Lockheed Martin for six modified KC-130J aircraft for use by the Air Force and Special Operations Command in mid-June 2008. The contract is expected to lead to C-130J variants that will replace aging HC-130s and MC-130s .

With the addition of the Marine Corps's ISR / Weapon Mission Kit, the KC-130J tanker variant will be able to serve as an overwatch aircraft and can deliver ground support fire in the form of 30mm cannon fire , Hellfire missiles , and precision-guided bombs . This capability, designated as "Harvest HAWK" (Hercules Airborne Weapons Kit), can be used in scenarios where precision is not a requisite, such as area denial .

The L-100J is a civilian version of the C-130J-30 which was under development, but the program was placed on hold indefinitely to focus on military development and production.

Operational history

The largest operator of the new model will be the U.S. Air Force, which is ordering the aircraft in increasing numbers. Current operators of the C-130J are the USAF (to include the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard ), U.S. Marine Corps (being their 4th variant after KC-130F, KC-130R and KC-130T), U.S. Coast Guard , Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Danish Air Force , Royal Norwegian Air Force , Canadian Air Force , and the Italian Air Force . As of July 2010, a total of 200 units have been produced of the 284 on order then.

Lockheed Martin has offered to lease four C-130Js to the German ''Luftwaffe '', which has been awaiting a Transall C-160 replacement set for 2010 (Airbus A400M ), but the deal was rejected.

The Indian Air Force purchased six C-130J-30s in early 2008 at a cost of up to US$1.059 billion. It is a package deal with the US government under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, and India has retained options to buy six more of these aircraft for its special forces for combined army-air force operations. India will not sign the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). So the US will not include high precision GPS and other sensitive equipment coming under CISMOA. IAF may add similar equipment to the aircraft.

The Canadian Forces signed a US$1.4 billion contract with Lockheed Martin for 17 new C-130J-30s on 16 January 2008, as part of the procurement process to replace the existing C-130E and H models. The C-130J will be officially designated ''CC-130J Hercules'' in Canadian Forces service. The first C-130J was delivered to CFB Trenton on 4 June 2010.

The Royal Norwegian Air Force ordered four C-130Js in 2007 to replace six aging C-130Hs in need of additional repairs. The first aircraft was delivered in November 2008.

Qatar ordered four C-130Js in 2008, along with spare parts and training for the Qatari Emiri Air Force . The contract is worth a total of US$393.6 million and deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2011. The United Arab Emirates Air Force announced an order for 12 C-130J transport aircraft at the 2009 IDEX , with an announced value of US$1.3 billion. In August 2010 Oman increased its C-130J order by adding two C-130Js to the one C-130J-30 ordered in 2009. Deliveries are to be completed by early 2014 or before.

The Iraqi Air Force ordered six C-130J-30s in 2008. In May 2010, the Kuwait Air Force signed a contract for three KC-130Js with deliveries to begin in late 2013. The Israeli Air Force is seeking to purchase nine C-130J-30s. In April 2010 Israel ordered one C-130J with delivery in 2013 and was in contract talks for two more aircraft in June 2010.

In June 2009, Lockheed Martin said that both the UK and France had asked for technical details on the C-130J as an alternative to the troubled Airbus A400M .

Civilian usage

The Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) is a self-contained unit used for aerial firefighting that can be loaded onto a C-130 Hercules, which then allows the aircraft to be used as an air tanker against wildfire s. This allows the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to utilize military aircraft from the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve to serve as an emergency backup resource to the civilian air tanker fleet. The latest generation MAFFS II system was used for the first time on a fire in July 2010, using the C-130J Super Hercules. The 146th Airlift Wing was the first to transition to the MAFFS 2 system in 2008, and it remains the only unit flying the new system on the C-130J aircraft.

Variants

C-130J

Tactical airlifter

C-130J-30

Airlifter variant with longer fuselage.

EC-130J

Commando Solo variant for the Air Force Special Operations Command , operated by the Pennsylvania Air National Guard .;HC-130J

Long range patrol and air-sea rescue variant for the United States Coast Guard . USAF HC-130J version has changes for in-flight refueling.;KC-130J

Aerial refueling tanker and tactical airlifter version for United States Marine Corps .;MC-130J

Designed for Air Force Special Operations Command;WC-130J

Weather reconnaissance ("Hurricane Hunter ") version for the Air Force Reserve Command .

CC-130J Hercules

Canadian Forces designation for the C-130J-30

Hercules C4

Royal Air Force designation for the C-130J-30

Hercules C5

Royal Air Force designation for the C-130J

Operators

AUS

* Royal Australian Air Force : 12 in service

CAN

* Canadian Forces Air Command : Five operated by 436 Transport Squadron , 12 more to be delivered by April 2012.

DNK

* Danish Air Force : Four C-130J-30s in service

IND

* Indian Air Force : Six to be delivered in 2011, with options to purchase six more.

ISR

* Israeli Air Force : One on order.

ITA

* Italian Air Force : 21 in service (10 C-130J-30, 4 C-130J, and 7 converted KC-130J) 1 KC-130J lost in crash

IRQ

* Iraqi Air Force : 6 C-130J-30s on order

KWT

* Kuwait Air Force : 3 KC-130J on order with an option to purchase three more

NOR

* Royal Norwegian Air Force : Four C-130J-30 in service

OMA

* Royal Air Force of Oman has one C-130J-30 on order to be delivered in mid-2012, and two C-130Js ordered with delivery by early 2014.

TUN

* Tunisian Air Force : has 2 C-130J-30s on order for delivery in 2013 and 2014.

QAT

*Qatari Emiri Air Force : has three C-130Js on order with delivery beginning in 2011.

ARE

* United Arab Emirates Air Force : 12 C-130J aircraft on order.

UK

* Royal Air Force : 24 C-130J in service, ordered 15 C4 and 10 C5. 1 C4 lost in Afghanistan

USA

* United States Air Force : 65 delivered (32 active duty, 22 Air National Guard , 11 Air Force Reserve ) out of 129 ordered

* United States Coast Guard : Six

* United States Marine Corps : 38 KC-130J in service of 46 ordered

Specifications (C-130J)

Specifications for are for basic J-model; data for C-130J-30 noted.