2015
180 topics in this forum
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7/10/2015 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- A fourth C-130H Hercules was delivered June 20 at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, and its significance can be traced back to planners, program managers, engineers and maintainers at Robins. Prior to its delivery to the Afghan Air Force, it first made a stop here for something quite interesting and unique - the complete separation of the aircraft's nose from its fuselage in March 2014. The move to build a C-130 fleet in support of the AAF - which received its first two C-130s in the fall of 2013 - will bring increased tactical airlift capabilities for troops engaged in various missions, as well as resup…
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4813[/ATTACH] CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The sweat droplets on the faces of the Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems crew members were in a tight race to hit their jaw line and fall to the floor of the flight deck. The crew had flown this mission hundreds of times, but this flight was different. The flight deck on the C-130H aircraft was overwhelmingly stuffy as Maj. Jack Berquist informed his crew that their landing gear was malfunctioning – something that has never happened on a MAFFS mission or in the unit itself. Moments after dropping slurry on fires in Utah last August, the crew circled the skies, hoping to land at Hill Air Force Base as they tro…
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PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colorado — Airmen from the Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd Airlift Wing and their U.S. Forest Service partners wrapped up their annual Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System training May 18 here. The four days of currency and re-currency certification ensured the Wing’s 10 MAFFS aircrews, support personnel and MAFFS-equipped C-130s are ready when requests for assistance are made by the U.S. Forest Service through the National Interagency Fire Center. The aircrews flew 23 sorties and performed 119 training drops in remote target sites in the Pike-San Isabel National Forest, Bureau of Land Management land and military ranges. With so many moving …
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4705[/ATTACH] WASHINGTON — The US Air Force is looking for allies on the Hill to rework a major C-130 upgrade program, while warning that it may look to cut entire fleets of airplanes if it does not get relief from the program over the next five years. But the service may find itself facing tough opposition, if a Wednesday hearing of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee is any indication. The C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) has become a flashpoint in recent years. While members of Congress have fought hard for the program, the Air Force has said it is too costly and slow to do the entire, wide-ranging su…
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4703[/ATTACH] MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) -- The 23rd Wing sent the Air Force's oldest C-130 to the "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, for its retirement March 3. Aircraft 62-1863, an HC-130P Combat King nicknamed "Iron Horse," experienced 52 years of service and three different modifications during its tenure. "The history is rich with this aircraft," said Tim Martin, the Air Force Engineering Technical Services adviser for C-130 maintenance personnel. "This is because it is a one of a kind aircraft and there never will be another like it." Iron Horse began its Air Force career as a C-130E Hercules assigned to the 374t…
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MANSFIELD, Ohio -- In keeping with tradition, the 179th Airlift Wing dedicated another one of its aircraft to a local community--this time recognizing the City of Shelby. A dedication ceremony was held Thursday afternoon at the 179th Airlift Wing, drawing attendance from several Shelby officials. A total of eight C-130 Hercules aircraft exist at the base, each of which are to be named in honor of a local community. So far, planes have been dedicated to Mansfield, Lexington, Clear Fork Valley, Ontario and Shelby. On the 179th's list for future dedications include Ashland, Crestline and Galion. Read more... View full article
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WASHINGTON — The Air Force has awarded Rolls-Royce a $36 million contract to begin upgrading its fleet of C-130 transport planes, the company announced. The contract will kick off what is expected to be a long-running agreement with the Air Force to upgrade the entire fleet of 400 C-130E and C-130H engines with Rolls-Royce’s T56 Series 3.5 kits. Deliveries of the upgrade packages will begin in December, and will introduce the engine improvements into Air Force and US Air National Guard C-130s, according to an Oct. 20 company news release. The Series 3.5 upgrade, which was designed and funded by Rolls-Royce, enables the engines to operate at low temperatures, extends pa…
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4824[/ATTACH] BILOXI, MS (WLOX) - The Flying Jennies are staying in Biloxi. The Air Force has officially abandoned plans to deactivate the 815th Tactical Airlift Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, which would have transferred the squadron's 10 C-130J transport aircraft to another state. The decision was formally submitted to defense committees in Congress on Tuesday. The 815th is best known for air dropping supplies and paratroopers but can also be used to provide airlift, employment operations or aero medical evacuations. The Air Force first proposed relocating the aircraft in February 2012 as a cost cutting measure. The 815th Air Squadron em…
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Air Force Reserve leaders are drawing a clear line between planes and personnel in response to local outrage over the impending inactivation of the 440th Airlift Wing. A spokesman for the three-star command headquartered at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, said officials were taking "no actions prohibited by law" as they met with airmen at Fort Bragg's Pope Field on Friday.A team from Air Force Reserve Command will help open a clearing house for most of the 440th's 1,200 airmen, said spokesman Col. Robert Palmer.Palmer said the clearing house is not a nefarious plot to shutter the unit, but an effort to help airmen find new jobs."This is a way to try to take care of reser…
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Residents of Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania had the chance to see a rare formation of nine C-130 aircraft as the culminating event of a week-long C-130 Round-Up skills competition and training event held here, Aug. 23-28. Aircrews and Aerial Porters from Youngstown Air Reserve Station (YARS); Mansfield Lahm Air National Guard Base, Ohio; Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia; Bradley Air National Guard Base, Connecticut and Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, New York, participated in the event. Planning for the C-130 Round-Up began after a similar annual competition, Air Mobility Command’s C-130 Rodeo, was cancelled due to budgetary restraints. Planners from YARS wa…
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The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale (FMS) of a C-130 fleet upgrade program and associated equipment to Pakistan.Under the estimated $100m sale, Pakistan has requested a possible sale of C-130B/E avionics upgrades, engine management and mechanical upgrades, cargo delivery system installation, and the replacement of outer wing sets on six military transport aircraft.The package also includes spare and repair parts, support equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, US Government and contractor technical and logistics support services, and other relat…
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But the Savings wouldn't pay for a single new bomberThe U.S. Air Force is winnowing down its fleet of EC-130H Compass Call electronic attack planes.The 15 high-tech jammers belong to the 55th Electronic Combat Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. But if the flying branch has its way, it will retire seven at the turn of the fiscal year in October, according to the Pentagon’s latest budget request.They’re few in number, but highly important planes. These are same EC-130Hs that twice shut down Saddam Hussein’s air defenses, and helped American pilots and troops return home alive from the conflicts in Kosovo, Haiti, Panama, Serbia and more recently Libya, Afghani…
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Penn State Univ. will lead a five-year, $30 million mission to improve quantification of present-day carbon-related greenhouse gas sources and sinks. An improved understanding of these gases will advance our ability to predict and manage future climate change."Atmospheric Carbon and Transport-America" is one of five airborne studies funded by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program to improve our understanding of the Earth system and our ability to predict future changes.In 2015, NASA aircraft will begin five studies around the world to investigate how global air pollution, climate forcing, warming ocean waters and fires in Africa affect our climate. The five studi…
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Mumbai: One of India's biggest defence cargo planes landed on the tiny runway at the Juhu Airport in Mumbai this morning.The Hercules C130J was flown to Juhu as an exercise to see if the airport in the western suburbs of Mumbai could be used in case the city's main airport is attacked.The massive transport plane, used to carry troops and supplies, stood at Juhu for 10 minutes before flying out.Most aircraft of this size require a runway with conventional dimensions of a fully functional airport, but the Hercules can land on much shorter lengths of unpaved or paved runways. The runway at the Juhu aerodrome is 3750 feet long, very short compared to the 12008 feet long runwa…
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Lockheed Martin Corp has been awarded a $662,032,335 contract by the United States' Department of Defense for the purchase of two MC-130J, two HC-130J, three KC-130J, one C-130J, two U.S. Coast Guard HC-130J production aircraft, and 20 quick engine change assemblies under the basic contract. Work will be performed in Marietta, Georgia, with an expected completion date of Jan. 31, 2018. View original article: http://worlddefencenews.blogspot.com...-contract.html View full article
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4707[/ATTACH] NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) will buy one more Lockheed Martin C 130J Super Hercules medium-lift aircraft apart from the 12 contracted for to make up for the loss of one plane in an accident in March. The IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, told India Strategic magazine (www.indiastrategic.in ) in an interview that the induction of the C-130Js, as also the heavy-lift Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs had "brought about a paradigm shift in our airlift capabilities". The IAF had initially acquired six C-130Js, and over three-and-a-half years of operations so far, the aircraft have played a highly significant role in d…
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US Air Force Special Operations Command wants an expendable, tube-launched small unmanned aerial vehicle for its AC-130 “battleplane” for peering beneath cloud cover to direct gunfire and precision-guided munitions. The special forces organisation, which employs a large fleet of manned gunships equipped with 30mm and 105mm cannons, is pursuing the so-called Tactical Off-board Sensor as a way of “taking the cover of weather away from the enemy”. AFSOC commander Lt Gen Bradley Heithold says the tube-launched UAV could be dropped from the back of the Lockheed Martin C-130-based gunship and orbit below the clouds. The sensor gimbal is controlled remotely from the AC-130, al…
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India and US after renewed and enhanced Defense Framework Agreement have agreed to work on Joint development and Production of four key defense Projects and one of them is to enhance Indian air forces C-130J with specialized electronic intelligence kits called as “Senior Scout ” which is a Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system.Senior Scout, a pallet mounted communications and electronic intelligence system, built into a trailer-like container that can be rolled on and off C-130 aircrafts. Senior Scout container also accommodates operators who collect SIGINT (signals intelligence), ELINT (electronic intelligence) and COMINT (communications intelligence…
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MANILA, Philippines – United States Ambassador Philip Goldberg on Monday said there are two C-130 planes anticipated to be delivered in the country in the first quarter of 2016. “We help support Philippine modernization through excess defense articles, there are two more C-130s in the pipeline,” Goldberg said during the turnover and commissioning of eight brand new Bell-412EPs and two attack versions of AgustaWestland AW-109E. Goldberg added that US government also supports the Philippine military modernization through its foreign military funding which was pegged at $50 million in 2014. With the anticipated mission-ready C-130s from the US, the Philippine Air Forc…
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KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNS) -- The 17th Special Operations Squadron sent off the final two MC-130P Combat Shadows in the Pacific Air Forces to retire on April 15. The 17th SOS highlighted the beginning of the MC-130P Combat Shadow retirement with one final formation flight on Oct. 16, 2014, at Kadena Air Base, but now they have sent their last ones to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. "Today is bittersweet as we say goodbye to these amazing aircraft," said Lt. Col. Nathan T. Colunga, the 17th SOS commander. "I have spent less time in the MC-130P than most, only 11 years, but these aircraft have executed every time we've truly needed them to ove…
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The air bridge involved the backbone of the Polish transport aviation: CASA 295M and C-130 Hercules.The Polish Air Force has completed the evacuation of Ukrainians with Polish descent living in eastern Ukraine and extracted them to refugee camps in Poland on Jan. 13.The operation was conducted by C-130E Hercules and C295M cargo planes which flew to Kharkiv to board 178 persons belonging to a large ethnic minority in Ukraine which is set apart from the main body of population.People who were qualified to be extracted were in possession of Karta Polaka, literally meaning “Pole’s card”, a.k.a Polish Charter a document which confirms the Polish citizenship of people who canno…
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A Wyoming Air National Guard crew has been recognized for how is handled an emergency landing this past summer.The guard, reserve and active duty aircrew aboard the C-130H3 received the Air Mobility Command Chief of Safety Aircrew of Distinction Award.This summer the crew successfully landed the plane in Utah without any injuries or fatalities despite a malfunctioning nose gear.The Modular Airborne Firefighting System crew had finished two successful fire retardant drops when it was instructed to reload for a third drop.Maj. Jack Berquist, the aircraft commander, landed the plane and held the nose up off the ground as long as possible, before gently …
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Chile has acquired two C-130 Hercules from U.S. Navy stockpiles — the most significant addition of transport aircraft since the 2010 purchase of KC-135 planes. The Hercules will be delivered this year and next, according to El Mercurio. The newspaper reported the C-130s are part of the H series, the same as two others already in FACh's fleet. The purchase is confirmed in the database of Excess Defense Articles of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which shows Chile paid $7 million for each plane. The agency's database also shows the transfers were authorized in 2012 and 2013, indicating that Chile didn't accept them until recently. The planes are listed as C-13…
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United States embassy officials in Addis Ababa have confirmed that the Ethiopian government has received a single Lockheed C-130E Hercules transport aircraft from the United States for tactical airlift of troops and equipment to support Ethiopian participation in AU and UN peacekeeping operations.The aircraft was previously operated by the Puerto Rico National Guard where it was flown by the 198th Airlift Squadron, according to Air Forces Daily. After retirement from the US Air Force, it was put in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, in September, 2013, having flown a total of 22 739 flight hours. Early the following year it was taken out of storage and prep…
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Fire Aviation has obtained a document produced by the U.S. Forest Service which indicates they expect to receive the seven former Coast Guard C-130H aircraft between Fiscal Years 2017 and 2019 after they have been converted into air tankers — two in 2017, three in 2018, and the last two in 2019. (The federal fiscal year begins in October.) This is a year later than information the Chief of the USFS, Tom Tidwell, provided to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in July of 2014.Last month the agency’s announced plan, until the seven aircraft have been fully converted to air tankers with conventional gravity-based retardant tanks, was to operate one C-130H in 20…
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