United States Marine Corps
United States Coast Guard
Royal Air Force
Italian Air Force
Lockheed Martin WC-130J
| C-130J "Super" Hercules | |
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| Role | military transport aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
| First flight | 5 April 1996 |
| Introduction | 1999 |
| Status | In production |
| Primary users | United States Air Force United States Marine Corps United States Coast Guard Royal Air Force Italian Air Force |
| Unit cost | US$62 million in 2008 (C-130J flyaway cost)[1] |
| Developed from | C-130 Hercules |
| Variants | Lockheed Martin EC-130J Lockheed Martin WC-130J |
The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is an American 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 also outlived several planned successor designs, most notably the Advanced Medium STOL Transport contestants.
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The C-130J "Super" Hercules 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 is a very different aircraft. These differences include new Rolls-Royce AE 2100 turboprops with six-bladed composite scimitar propellers, digital avionics (including Head-Up Displays (HUDs) for each pilot), reduced crew requirements (2 pilots — no navigator or flight engineer), increased reliability and up to 27% lower operating costs.
The C-130J is available in a standard-length or stretched -30 variant. Lockheed Martin received the launch order for the J from the RAF, who 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 US Air Force awarded a $470 million contract to Lockheed Martin for six modified KC-130J aircraft for special forces use in mid-June 2008. The contract is expected to lead to C-130J variants to replace aging HC-130s and MC-130s.[2]
The largest operator of the new model will be the U.S. Air Force, which is ordering the aircraft in increasing numbers. Current operators of the C-130J are the USAF (to include the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard), U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Danish Air Force and the Italian Air Force. Total procurement of C-130J aircraft has reached 186 orders as of December 2006.[3]
Lockheed Martin has offered to lease four C-130Js to the German Luftwaffe, which has been awaiting a Transall replacement set for 2010 (the Airbus A400M), but the deal was rejected.
The Indian Air Force purchased six C-130Js in early 2008 at a cost of US$ 1.059 billion.[4] It is a package deal with the US government under its Foreign Military Sales Program (FMS), and India has retained options to buy six more of these aircraft for its special forces for combined army-air force operations.[5]
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 CC-130E and H models.[6] The C-130J will be officially designated CC-130J Hercules in Canadian Forces service.[7]
The Royal Norwegian Air Force has decided to purchase four C-130Js to reinforce their transport capacity when it was discovered that their forty-year-old C-130s were unserviceable during a wing change.[8]
The Government of Qatar has also placed an order for four C-130Js, spare parts and training for the Qatari Emiri Air Force for a total of US$393.6 million. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2011. [9]
The Iraqi Air Force has requested six new C-130J-30s,[10] while the Israeli Air Force is seeking to purchase nine C-130J-30s.[11]
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Australia
Canada
Denmark
India
Italy
Norway
United Kingdom
United States
Data from USAF C-130 Hercules fact sheet[15] The International Directory of Military Aircraft, 2002-2003 [16]
General characteristics
Performance
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
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