News from Lockheed MartinThe US Department of the Air Force has selected the 103rd Airlift Wing (Hartford, Connecticut), the 120th Airlift Wing (Great Falls, Montana), the 133rd Airlift Wing (Minneapolis) and the 182nd Airlift Wing (Peoria, Illinois) as the next locations for the replacement of aging C-130Hs with the manufacturer’s new C-130J Super Hercules. Lockheed Martin is also making good progress with the three KC-130J Super Hercules tankers ordered by Germany.
Let’s start in the USA, where eight new C-130Js are to be procured at each of the locations mentioned – a total of 24 new aircraft are to be purchased. Before these are actually ordered, however, the ministry will carry out an environmental impact assessment for each location. If everything goes smoothly, these will be completed in the 2025 financial year and the procurement can actually go ahead. There is also news from Lockheed Martin about the KC-130J Super Hercules tankers ordered by Germany: as has only just become known, the second of the three KC-130Js ordered by Germany completed its maiden flight in Marietta (Georgia) at the end of August. Germany has ordered a total of six aircraft, three of which have already been handed over to the German Air Force by Lockheed Martin in the C-130J transporter version. The fourth aircraft (the first of three in the KC-130J tanker version) completed its maiden flight in June and is currently being delivered. The second KC-130J, which has now flown for the first time, is due to be handed over to the German Air Force at the beginning of next year and the sixth and final new Hercules in the course of next year.
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