C-130 Hercules

by Martin W Bowman

  Royal Saudi Air Force C-130H (1623) participating in the airdrop competition over McChord Air Force Base, Washington on 23 July 2007, during ‘Rodeo 2007’, an Air Mobility Command readiness competition with US and international mobility air forces focusing on improving war fighting capabilities and support of the war on terrorism. (USAF)

  Singapore

  The first Hercules acquired for the Republic of Singapore Air Force were four ex-USAF C-130B models, two of which had also served with the Royal Jordanian Air Force. Delivered in 1977, all were converted to KC-130B transport/ tanker configuration in 1985 and 1986. In 1980 four C-130Hs were delivered, followed by a fifth in 1987, together with a KC-130H (ex-Lockheed tanker demonstrator). All the Hercules serve with 122 Squadron at Paya Lebar.

  South Africa

  Seven C-130Bs were delivered to the SAAF between 1962 and 1963 for issue to 28 Squadron, Air Transport Command, at Waterkloof, Transvaal, which continues to fly these to this day. A UN arms embargo on sales to South Africa meant that no further Hercules were purchased until 1996-97, when three ex-USN C-HOFs were acquired. In 1997-98, two ex-USAF C-130Bs were added. The nineteen L-100-30s operated by Safair Freighter (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg at various times (only about six remain), have also been available as a reserve airlift asset.

  At the end of May 2013 28 Squadron marked two major milestones – its 70th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the venerable C-130BZ in service. At AFB Waterkloof, Colonel Jurgens Prinsloo CO, 28 Squadron had responsibility for the nine C-130BZs in the SAAF inventory. The SAAF C-130s were regularly flying to Sudan, the DRC and Uganda to provide logistic support for SA National Defence Force troops deployed on peace support and peacekeeping missions. One of the squadron’s aircraft had gone as far north as Malta to bring home South Africans, including diplomats, rushed out of North African countries during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

  Seven C-130B Hercules were acquired in 1963 and when the squadron moved to AFB Waterkloof, it left its Dakotas behind to join 44 Squadron at Swartkop. In February 1968 the VIP flight was reconstituted as 21 Squadron, while the C-160Z Transall was acquired in 1969 and operated with the squadron from January 1970 until they retired in 1993. Three ex-USN C-130F aircraft were acquired in 1996 with a further two ex-USAF C-130B following in 1998. The F models were only flown for a short time before being retired. The squadron continues to fly the nine C-130B Hercules, all having been upgraded to C-130BZ configuration.

  South Korea

  The Republic of Korea received four C-130H-30s in 1987-88 and two batches of four C-130Hs in 1989 and 1990, for service with its Air Transport Wing at Seoul-Kimpo. The first C-130H-30 (N408M/5006) was used at Pope AFB in June/July 1987 to test LAPES etc with ‘stretched’ aircraft). One aircraft was deployed to serve in the 1991 Gulf War. Four C-130J-30s were delivered in 2014.

  Spain

  The first four C-130Hs were delivered to the Ejército del Aire Espanol (EdA) in December 1973 and early 1974; initially these were assigned to Escuadrón 301 of the Mando Aviacion Tactica (Tactical Air Command) at Valenzuela-Zaragoza. In Spanish service these were designated T-10s. The first aircraft, 4520/T-10-1, crashed into a mountain in central Gran Canaria while operating from Las Palmas, on 28 May 1980. The third aircraft (4531/T-10-3) had a fortunate escape on 15 November 1988 when it collided with an F-18 near Zaragoza and lost 30 feet of its wing: both aircraft landed safely. In 1976 three KC-130Hs (TK-10s) were delivered; in 1979-80 these were followed by three more C-130Hs and in 1980 by two more KC-130Hs. 5003, a C-130H-30 (TL-10-01) was delivered in 1988. This and all C-130 transport aircraft are flown by Escuadrone 311, Ala de Transporte 31, at Zaragoza. The KC-130Hs (TK-10s) are operated by Escuadrón 312.

  Sudan

  Six C-130Hs for the Silakh al Jawwiya and known as ‘Sudaniya’ were delivered to Khartoum between January and May 1978. One Aircraft (4766) has occasionally operated as ST-AHR and ST-AIF in the markings of Sudan Airways. The third aircraft (4769/Sudan AFI 102) is the 1,500th Hercules delivered’.

  Sweden

  The Svenska Flygvapnet became the first European air force to operate the Hercules, leasing C-130E 64-0546/4039 from Lockheed in February 1965 after the aircraft had been sold back before delivery to the USAF. A second C-130E joined this aircraft in Flygflottilj 7 (F7) Transportglyg-divisionen at Satenas and in 1982 both were modified to C-130H configuration. Six additional C-130H models had by then entered service. Designated Tp 84, the aircraft continue to be flown by F7 at Satenas and have been equipped with flare and chaff dispensers and armoured cockpits.

  Taiwan

  The Republic of China Air Force has received twentyone C-130Hs, the first twelve having been delivered in 1986. One (5067/Taiwanl310) crashed during an attempted go-round at Tiipeh-Sung-Shan in a rainstorm on 10 October 1997. The twenty remaining aircraft (at least one of which is equipped for electronic warfare) are operated by 101 Squadron based at Pingtung AB.

  Thailand

  The Royal Thai Air Force received its first three C-130Hs in 1980 under the US Military Assistance Program. A C-130H-30 was delivered in 1983, followed by three more in 1988 and 1990. During 1990-92, three C-130Hs were acquired, one going to Cambodia in 1997. In 1992 also, two more C-130H-30s were acquired, one of which is presumed to be used as a VIP aircraft. Most of the Hercules are flown by 601 Squadron, part of 6 Wing at Bangkok-Don Muang.

  Tunisia

  Seven ex-USAF C-130Bs were acquired for the Tunisian Air Force and these were delivered between 1995 and 1998. Meanwhile, two C-130Hs were purchased in 1985: they serve with the Escadrille de Transport et Communication at Bizerte and wear quasi-civilian markings. Two C-130J-30s were received as of December 2014.

  Turkey

  Under the US Military Assistance Program (MAP), the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri received eight C-130Es 1964-1974 for service with Air Transport Command at Erkilet. 4100/ETI-949 in 131 Squadron crashed into a mountain during approach to Izmir, Turkey, on 19 October 1968. The Hercules were used to support the 6th Allied Tactical Ait Force of NATO Allied Air Forces Southern Europe and on relief operations. They also took part in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, which led to an arms-sale embargo on Turkey. Seven ex-USAF C-130Bs were delivered to Turkey during 1991-92, one subsequently returning to the US and being sold to Romania. All Turkish Air Force Hercules are operated by 222 Squadron at Erkilet/Kayseri.

  Uganda

  L-100-30 (no further details available).

  United Arab Emirates

  The integrated air forces of Abu Dhabi and Dubai comprise the UAE Air Force. Two C-130Hs (4580 and 4584) delivered to Abu Dhabi in March 1975 were sold back to Lockheed in February 1984 (subsequently being acquired by Canada for the CAF) in exchange for two new C-130Hs (4983 and 4985 respectively). Two other C-130Hs were delivered to Abu Dhabi in 1981. The four C- 130Hs now operate with the Transport Wing of Western Air Command from Bateen AB, Abu Dhabi. An L-100-30 (4834) was delivered to Dubai in 1979 and a C-130H-30 was delivered in 1983. Both fly with the Transport Squadron, Central Air Command, from Minchat AB, Dubai. On 25 February 2009 the UAE placed an order for 12 C-130J-30s to modernize the country’s tactical airlift fleet with an option for four KC-130J tankers.

  ‘Turkish Stars’ C-130E 73-00991 support aircraft.

  United Kingdom

  Sixty-six C-130K models were ordered for the RAF in 1965. These were 65-13021/13044, 66-8550/8573 and 66-13533/13550 and they were essentially C-130H airframes powered by 4,508 eshp T56-A-15s with some components made by Scottish Aviation and British electronics. The first aircraft (65-13021/XV176) flew at Marietta, Georgia on 19 October 1966. Known in service as the Hercules C.Mk.1, it was the first to be delivered and was assigned to 242 OCU at Thorney Island, Hampshire in April 1967. Final deliveries to the RAF of the C.Mk.1 were made in 1968. Four aircraft have been lost and twenty-five were provided with in-flight refuelling probes and modified to C.Mk.1P standard. Six more were fitted with the air-refuelling probe and a hose-drum unit in the fuselage and were designated C
.Mk.1K Hercules. XV223 was modified by Lockheed as the prototype of the Hercules C.Mk.3. with the fuselage stretched by 15 feet to increase capacity from ninety-two to 129 infantrymen, or from sixty-four to ninety-two paratroops. This aircraft first flew in modified form on 3 December 1979. Twentynine C.Mk.1s were stretched by Marshall Engineering, to be brought up to C.Mk.3 standard.

  Following the Falklands War in 1982, Marshalls fitted an in-flight air-refuelling probe to twenty-five aircraft, which became C.Mk.1Ps. Beginning in 1986 they also began fitting in-flight refuelling probes to the thirty C.Mk.3s to convert them to C.Mk.3P configuration. Starting in 1987, C.Mk.1Ps and C.Mk.1Ks began receiving AN/ALQ 157 IR jamming equipment and chaff/flare dispensers. At least five C.Mk.1Ps were fitted with Racal ‘Orange Blossom’ ESM pods beneath their wing-tips to give some degree of surveillance capability.

  The RAF has a total of 24 C-130J (C4/C5) aircraft. The C4 is almost the same size as the current C3 aircraft, but with a slightly shorter fuselage, while the C5 is the same size as the C1.

  United States of America

  The original user of the Hercules in December 1956, the USAF now has a total of 201 C-130E, C-130H and H-30 transports in its inventory, which serve with eleven Airlift squadrons in Air Combat Command (ACC); Air Mobility Command(AMC);USAFE; USAF Special Operations Command; US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF); US Air Education and Training Command (AETC); AFMC (Air Force Materiel CMD); AFRes; ANG; Air Mobility Command (AMC); US Air Combat Command (USACC); US Navy (USN); USMC and the US Coast Guard (USCG). The last named is a key component of the US Armed Forces (USCG district commanders are of USN Rear Admiral rank), with essential wartime/readiness responsibilities under the US Navy Maritime Defense Zone (MARDEZ), it carries out combat and combat support tasks for the USN, which include SAR, port security, harbour defence, antisubmarine warfare (ASW), logistic support and surveillance interdiction. Apart from SAR, the USCG is part of the international ice patrol: in the average year, 200 to 400 icebergs are located and tracked in the 45,000 square miles of North Atlantic sea lanes patrolled by CG C-130s.

  HC-130H CG1717 (86-0420) coming into land at CGAS Clearwater, Florida in April 1991. This Coast Guard Hercules was registered N436NA to NASA at Wallops Island on 26 March 2015. (MWB)

  EC-130Q BuNo 159469 was delivered to VQ-4 at Patuxent River in July 1975 for airborne communication with USN nuclear submarines. This aircraft was re-designated TC-130Q before being released to AMARC in September 1991. On 10 September 1997 Derco Aerospace sold the aircraft to the Netherlands for spare parts. (Lockheed)

  The following roles are becoming increasingly important for the Hercules: enforcement of immigration and sea traffic laws and treaties (ELT), drug-traffic interdiction and also marine environmental protection (MEP) - CG Hercules on offshore and port area surveillance detect oil contamination resulting from offshore drilling operations, tankers, spillage and other sources. Since 1988, Operation ‘Bahamas’, Turks and Caicos Islands (OPBAT), a multi-national effort of law enforcement and military agencies, has stemmed the flow of illegal drugs smuggled into the US through the Caribbean; in 1997, a record year for drug seizures, OPBAT netted 12,163lb of marijuana and more than two tons of cocaine.

  USCG aircraft are normally funded through the USN Appropriations; the first four Hercules, ordered under the designation R8V-1G (later SC-130B), were delivered between December 1959 and March 1960. Two more SC-130Bs were delivered from January to Match 1961, by which time the aircraft were redesignated HC-130G. Then three more were delivered to the CG in March and April 1962 and another three (now re-designated as HC-130Bs) between December 1962 and February 1963. All were withdrawn from use in the 1980s.

  EC-130E 63-7869 of the 193rd Special Operations Squadron, 193rd Special Operations Group, Pennsylvania ANG over Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 1 May 1980. Built as a C-130E, 63-7869 was converted to an EC-130E in April 1979 and modified to an EC-130H ‘Commando Solo’ in January 1993.

  The ‘Blue Angels’ C-130T BuNo164763 Hercules passing the New York skyline.

  The ‘Blue Angels’ C-130T BuNo164763 Hercules taking off with JATO rockets.

  The ‘Blue Angels’ Honour Guard takes the salute.(USMC photo by Staff Sergeant Oscar L. Olive)

  In August 1966 the CG received its first EC-130E (4158, later redesignated HC-130E) and this was used until the mid-19808. In 1968 three HC-130Hs were delivered and another nine followed, in 1973, 1974 and 1977. One HC-130H (4757) crashed 2.5 miles south of Attu in the Aleutian Islands on 30 July 1982 while trying to land in bad weather. In 1983 and 1984, eleven HC-130H-7s were received and between 1985 and 1987 a further eleven HC-130Hs were added. In 1988 one additional HC-130H (5121) was delivered, to COS Clearwater, Florida and then modified in 1991 to EC-130V; it was transferred to the USAF in 1993. On 24 January 1992, HC-130H-7 CGI706, based at Kodiak, Alaska, lost a propeller in flight and suffered fuselage and wing damage, but managed to land safely. Three months later, on 24 April, HC-130H 1452 (67-7183) was attacked by Peruvian Su-22s while on an anti-drug mission and suffered extensive damage; it was repaired, but was consigned to AMARC in 1993. Thirty CG C-130H and H-7 aircraft and the HC-130J version are in the USCG inventory at the following CG stations: Barbers Point, HI (HC-130H); Borinquen, Puerto Rico (HC-130H); Clearwater, FL (HC-130H); Elizabeth City, North Carolina (HC-130H); Kodiak, Alaska (HC-130H); Sacramento, McClellan AFB, California (HC-130H).

  Uruguay

  Between 1992 and 1994 the Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya acquired three ex-USAF C-130Bs, although the last (3541) was never used and was withdrawn from use in August 1996. The two remaining aircraft are flown by the Regimento Tactico 1 at Montevideo-Carrasco.

  Venezuela

  The original order intended for the Fuerza Aérea Venezolana and placed in 1969, was for six C-130Hs for service with Escuadrón de Transporte 1 at Caracas, four to be delivered in 1970 and two in 1975. Four were delivered to the FAV in 1971 for operation by Escuadrón 62 at Matacay-El Libertador and the other two duly arrived in 1975. However, 4408/FAV7772 24 de Julio crashed on night approach to Lajes, Azores, in bad visibility and high winds on 27 August 1976; and 4406/FAV3556 crashed attempting a three-engined take-off from Caracas airport on 4 November 1980. Two further C-130H models were delivered, in December 1978 and 1988, as an attrition replacement for the two crashed aircraft.

  Việtnam

  As part of Operation ‘Enhance Plus’, thirty-five C-130As were speedily transferred from ANG squadrons in the US and delivered to the Republic of Việtnam Air Force (South Việtnam) in November 1972. By April 1975, when the country was overrun, three C-130As had been lost, nineteen were flown to Thailand, but thirteen were captured in 1975 and entered service with the 918th Regiment, Việtnamese People’s Air Force. Some were kept flying by cannibalizing others and were used as makeshift bombers in the invasion of Kampuchea in 1978. A few may have been given to the former USSR. Attempted sales of surviving airframes in the early 1990s were unsuccessful.

  Yemen

  In August 1979 the Yemen Arab Republic Air Force received two C-130Hs donated by Saudi Arabia; they are operated by Yemen Airways.

  Zaire

  Only one (4411/9T-TCA) of the seven C-130Hs which served with the Force Aérienne Zairoise (1971 to 1997, now The Air Force of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) remain in service: with 191 Escadrille of 19 Wing d’Appui Logistique at N’Djili Airport, Kinshasa. Initially, three C-130Hs were delivered in 1971, then three more in 1975 and the seventh (4736/9T-TCG) in 1977. 4422/9T-TCD crashed at Kisangani, Zaire, on 18 August 1974, but all the rest were used during the war of 1977 which followed the invasion of Shaba by foreign mercenaries. Subsequently, 4569/9T-TCE crashed during a three-engined take-off with maximum load from Kindu, Zaire, on 14 September 1980. Then 4736/9T-TCG crashed near Kinshasa, Zaire on 19 April 1990 because a propeller blade broke off. Finally 4416/9T-TCB and 4588/9T-TCF were impounded at Milan-Malpensa airport in October 1994, the latter going on to serve with the French l’Armée de l’Air (as did 4589/9T-TCC after 1995).


  Zambia

  Though no Hercules has officially served with the Zambian Air Force, five L-100s have been used by the Zambian government and Zambia Air Cargoes and possibly by the air force, too.

  Twenty-one USAF C-130J Super Hercules roll down the runway at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas on 21 June 2014 when the aircrews from multiple units flew a large formation. More than 500 manning hours and 200 maintainers in the 317th Airlift Group generated twelve aircraft for the large-scale launch when C-130Hs and Js joined more than fifty other aircraft across 14 other wings and seven major commands to take part in the largest ‘Joint Forcible Entry Exercise’ led by the US Air Force. The 21-ship formation, of both the C-130H Legacy and C-130J Super Hercules models from eight Air Force installations travelled to Nellis AFB, Nevada, in support of the JFE.

  Appendix III

  Models and Variants

  YC-130-LO (Model 082-44-01)

  The two prototypes/service test aircraft (53-3396/53-3397) were the only two Hercules built at Burbank; they were powered by four 3,250eshp Allison YT56-A-1A axial-flow propeller turbines driving three-blade Curtiss turbo-propellers. The first aircraft was used initially for static tests and the first flight was made by 53-3397 at the Lockheed Air Terminal on 23 August 1954. The YC-130s were later operated by Allison for engine tests and were re-designated NC-130s in 1959. 53-3396 was disassembled in October 1960 and 53-3397 in 1962.

  CM30A-LM (Model 182-44-03)

  This was the first production version, of which 204 were built at Marietta in Georgia. These differed from YC-130s in that they had provision for two 450-US gallon (1,703-litre) external fuel tanks outboard of the outer engines and were powered by 3,750eshp Allison T56-A-1A or T56-A-9 engines. The original Curtiss three-blade propellers were fitted to the first fifty or so C-130As, but during the course of production these were replaced, first by Aeroproducts propellers and finally, in 1978, by Hamilton-Standard four-blade units. All C-130As had provision for four 1,0001b thrust Aerojet 15KS-1000 JATO (jet-assisted take-off) bottle on each side of the rear fuselage to improve short-field performance, thus reducing take-off ground run at the design mission weight of 108,000lb (from 1,000 to 790 ft. Rough-field tests proved that the side hinged nose-gear doors were easily damaged and starting with the fifteenth production aircraft, these were replaced with units sliding fore and aft of the wheel well.