The German Air Power (Luftwaffe) has acquired the primary (tail quantity 5930) of six Lockheed Martin KC/C-130J Tremendous Hercules plane it ordered from Lockheed Martin in 2018. The official handover to Germany in a small ceremony in Marietta, Georgia, on February 1 adopted Lockheed’s handover of the airframe in December 2021 to the US Air Power. The brand new Tremendous Hercules on the Évreux-Fauville Air Base in northern France on 19 February. The arrival of the primary Luftwaffe Hercules on the residence of the newly established Franco-German transport squadron in Normandy got here simply weeks after an official handover ceremony was held on the Marietta manufacturing facility in the USA on 1 February.
The primary Tremendous Hercules was handed over lower than three years after the German protection procurement company BAAINBw and the US Air Power signed the primary settlement. With the acceptance of the primary of six models, the German Air Power has come to a step nearer to closing a functionality hole that was created with the retirement of the ultimate C-160 Transall plane after over 50 years of service. The US Air Power was answerable for constantly monitoring and finally accepting the plane as a part of the overseas army gross sales course of. Germany and France intend to function a joint fleet of C-130Js, which might consist of 5 C-130J-30 airframes and 5 KC-130Js. The binational fleet will fly from Évreux in Normandy, which is residence to the French Air Power’s 62nd Transport Squadron. That is additionally the place a joint coaching middle is being established by Rheinmetall and Thales below a contract from March 2021.
Commercial
The Lockheed Martin C-130J Tremendous Hercules is a four-engine turboprop army transport plane. Externally much like the traditional Hercules basically look, the J-model options significantly up to date expertise. These variations embody new Rolls-Royce AE 2100 D3 turboprop engines with Dowty R391 composite scimitar propellers, digital avionics (together with head-up shows (HUDs) for every pilot), and lowered crew necessities. These adjustments have improved efficiency over its C-130E/H predecessors, akin to 40% better vary, 21% larger most velocity, and 41% shorter takeoff distance. The J-model is offered in a standard-length or stretched -30 variant. The C-130J is the most recent model of the C-130 Hercules and the one mannequin in manufacturing. As of February 2018, 400 C-130J plane had been delivered to 17 nations. By July 2021, 450 C-130J had been delivered with 26 operators in 22 international locations.
As a cargo and airlift plane, the C-130J’s crew consists of two pilots and one loadmaster (no navigator or flight engineer), whereas specialised USAF variants (e.g., AC-130J, EC-130J, MC-130J, HC-130J, WC-130J) might have bigger crews, akin to navigators/Fight Techniques Officers or different specialised officer and enlisted aircrew. The U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J makes use of a crew chief for expeditionary operations. The C-130J’s cargo compartment is roughly 41 ft (12.5 m) lengthy, 9 ft (2.74 m) excessive, and 10 ft (3.05 m) broad, and loading is from the rear of the fuselage. The plane can be configured with the “enhanced cargo dealing with system”. The system consists of a computerized loadmaster’s station from which the consumer can remotely management the under-floor winch and in addition configure the flip-floor system to palletized curler or flat-floor cargo dealing with.
