Lockheed Martin Delivers 500th C-130J

Lockheed Martin has delivered the 500th C-130J SUPER HERCULES airlifter, 26 years after the version’s first flight. The user of the jubilee aircraft is the 130th Airlift Wing in Charleston, West Virginia, which is currently converting its inventory of C-130s to C-130Js.

The C-130J is the current production model of the legendary C-130 HERCULES, Lockheed Martin writes. The global C-130 fleet is in service with 26 operators in 22 countries and has logged more than 2 million flight hours.

According to Lockheed Martin’s description, compared to the C-130 HERCULES, the C-130J has significantly improved all performance metrics. Most notably, payload and range have been increased while fuel burn has been reduced. Other features include digital avionics and reduced crew.

GWH