Air Force special operators welcome new cargo planes.

• Author: Jean, Grace V.
• Position: Air Power

Air Force special operators have I been flying C-130 aircraft for more H than 40 years. Now, finally, the fleet is being upgraded to the digital J-model.

The Air Force all told is buying 122 C-130Js, of which 85 are slated to replace Air Force Special Operation Command's MC-130 fleets, beginning with the MC-130E and MC-130P tankers. That number also includes 16 MC-130Js that will be converted to AC-130J gunships.

From the outside, apart from the six-bladed propeller, it is difficult to tell a J-model from the previous four-bladed variants that Lockheed Martin Corp. has been building for more than half a century.

Though the airframe itself is largely unchanged from when the first production Hercules rolled off the assembly line in 1956, the MC-130J's mission systems are radically different--enough to merit establishing a new squadron to bring the airplane into the fold.

"This is really a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us to field a new aircraft and a new capability," said Lt. Col. Paul Pendleton, commander of the 522nd Special Operations Squadron. The unit was created in April as the first MC-130J Combat Shadow II squadron. "Being on the leading edge of that is very exciting," he said.

The first MC-130J aircraft is due to arrive later this month at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.

The C-130J is in full-rate production at Lockheed Martin's plant in Marietta, Ga., where close to 8,000 workers are assembling 36 aircraft per year.

The MC-130J is the newest variant of the Super Hercules line. When the special operations community sought to modernize its tankers, which are designed to refuel helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes, engineers at Lockheed Martin took the Marine Corps' KC-130J and worked with special operations personnel to customize it.

The MC-130J will refuel helicopters and the tilt-rotor CV-22 Osprey via a hose-and-drogue system. On the tarmac, the plane can also transfer fuel to ground vehicles--a capability that the marines use frequently, said Jim Grant, vice president of business development for air mobility and special operations programs at Lockheed Martin.

This is the first time that AFSOC will receive a C-130 that has been 100 percent modified on the assembly line. Before, AFSOC would take delivery' and then would have to ship it to another contractor for several more months of modifications into a special operations-configured system.

"By doing it in our production line, we're able to save them $7 million to $8 million per...