Air Force picks next C-130J Super Hercules locations
The aircraft is key to U.S. Air Force operations.
The Air Force has picked the preferred bases to receive the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, the replacement for the sites’ aging C-130Hs.
Louisville Air National Guard Base in Kentucky, McLaughlin Air National Guard Base in West Virginia, Savannah Air National Guard Base in Georgia and Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas were selected.
“The C-130J reduces manpower requirements, lowers operating and support costs, and provides life-cycle cost savings over earlier C-130 models,” the Air Force said, in the statement. “Compared to older C-130s, the ‘J’ model climbs faster and higher, flies farther at a higher cruise speed, and takes off and lands in a shorter distance.”
AIR FORCE ARMS CARGO PLANES FOR FUTURE ATTACK
Nineteen C-130J aircraft take part in an elephant walk before takeoff during an exercise Mar. 15, 2018, at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. - file photo. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Rhett Isbell)
Kentucky, West Virginia and Texas will each receive eight aircraft in 2021, according to the Air Force. Georgia will receive new aircraft if they become available in the future, it said.
The C-130J is built by Lockheed Martin, which says that more than 400 of the “workhorse” planes have been delivered to 21 operators in 18 countries around the world.
The aircraft is key to U.S. Air Force operations.
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Earlier this year, in a separate project, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Air Force Special Operations Command released simulated palletized munitions from an MC-130J Commando II special operations tanker.
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