2016
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Charlotte may not be home to the Air National Guard's C-130 planes much longer. The plane based at Charlotte Douglas International Airport are often used to fight wildfires and have operated out of Charlotte since the 1960s. But starting in 2018 the Air Force wants to station C-17 planes in Charlotte instead. They're much larger and are used to transport large, heavy cargo. Officials have not said where the C-130s may end up. Source: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/air-national-guard-c-130s-may-be-removed-from-charlotte/92786812 View full article
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More than 100 members of Alaska’s Air National Guard are deploying to the Middle East Tuesday evening. The majority is from the 144 Airlift Squadron within the Guard’s 176th Wing, and will be flying C-130H aircraft as part of intratheater operations. “Instead of ferrying materials around the globe in and out of the theater of operation, they’ll be operating within the theater, taking supplies and personnel from point to point,” said Capt. John Callahan, chief of public affairs for the 176th Wing. The Alaska unit is joining with active duty troops and members of the Ohio National Guard in operations combating the ISIL in Iraq and Syria. For security reaso…
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Rolls-Royce has delivered the first T56 Series 3.5 engine upgrade kits to the US Air Force as the service introduces the improvements to its C-130H transport fleet. The Series 3.5 engine upgrade kits are already demonstrating success in a Hurricane Hunter WP-3D aircraft of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with fuel savings exceeding 12% and improved range and payload capability. NOAA flight data also shows significantly lower turbine temperatures, improved high-altitude performance and much faster engine starts. USAF and US Air National Guard C-130Hs will begin receiving the T56 engine upgrades, starting with Air National Guard units in Wyomi…
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MANSFIELD – Approximately 100 members of the Ohio Air National Guard’s 179th Airlift Wing departed today for a near four-month deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation New Dawn. A majority of the members are from the 164th Airlift Squadron and will be flying C-130H aircraft as part of intra-theater operations, according to a news release from the airlift wing. The Mansfield-based unit is joining with active duty troops and members of the Alaska National Guard. This deployment is particularly significant for the participating units in the fact that Alaska Air National Guard will be the lead unit in a combined group and that the mission comple…
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Members of the Scotia-based 109th Airlift Wing were expected to fly 1,400 miles across Antarctica on Friday to pick up 35 stranded Australian researchers. The eight-person New York National Guard crew will use its ski-equipped L-C130 to extricate members of the expedition from Davis research station after a ship that was supposed to carry the Australians home ran aground in driving snow and freezing temperatures, according to the U.S. National Science Foundation. "What happened there was extremely bad weather at Mawson, an Australian station," said Peter West, spokesman for the National Science Foundation. The 109th fl…
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BodyText Developmental testing of the next generation AC-130J Ghostrider gunship has been suspended until the first 105 mm gun-armed aircraft is delivered, Air Force Materiel Command boss Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski said. After reviewing the original C-130J flight test data after the mishap that totaled the first AC-130J prototype, testers found that the gunship was similar enough to the base-model aircraft that repeating certain tests would be redundant, Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold added. Furthermore, there is very little point to continuing developmental testing “prior to the addition of that gun,” which will equip the producti…
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The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, “Hurricane Hunters,” spent Feb. 11-24 flying through "atmospheric rivers" in the Pacific Ocean stretching from Hawaii to U.S. West Coast in efforts to improve storm predictions. The squadron teamed up with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Scripps Institution of Oceanography California, and Oregon and Washington emergency management offices for the research mission aimed at improving forecaster's ability to predict where these atmospheric river storms will make landfall. Atmospheric rivers, a corridor of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere, can lead to flooding, mudslides an…
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Air Force officials told lawmakers Tuesday that the service is giving priority to its mobility aircraft as it funds upgrades necessary so that the planes can fly over U.S. airspace in accordance with new Federal Aviation Administration mandates going into effect in 2020. Under the new rules, all aircraft, including military, must be equipped with the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system, which continually broadcasts an aircraft's position, identity and velocity over an unencrypted data system to render the most accurate picture for air traffic management. Military aircraft will be able to alter their identifiers when necessary for security reasons. …
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Ukraine has lost Crimea and much of its eastern border region as well, to invading troops from Russia. But could this beleaguered country soon book a win in the airplane market? Several recent news items suggest that it could -- and that it could do this at Lockheed Martin's expense. Last month, we relayed to you the shocking news that Ukraine had officially shut down its Antonov Aviation Concern (AAC), the holding company that owned the Antonov Company, which builds the world's largest transport aircraft. We also pointed out, though, that just because AAC is going out of business, this doesn't necessarily keep Antonov Company from continuing to build airplanes. …
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“Integrated system-health” engines will be increasingly seen helping machines keep track of their own performance, CEMSol LLC engineering vice president David Cirulli said in a story from NASA. Critical systems like those on board spacecraft could gain a huge advantage by being a bit more self-aware, able to ‘verbalize’ their own possible failings, Cirulli said in an interview posted Thursday. CEMSol’s Integrated System Health Management software has been used at the NASA Ames Research Center since 2003, and was able to help engineers model data for experimental tests automatically. “Historically, system-health management has been an afterthought,” Cirul…
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In a $7.2 billion wish list of items the Air Force will submit to Congress, the service is asking for funds to restore the five F-35 joint strike fighters and eight C-130J transport planes it was forced to cut in its latest budget request. The document is par for the course of the Pentagon’s budget season. Congress asks for a so-called “unfunded priorities list” from each of the armed services every year. Lawmakers can choose to add funding to buy the requested items or ignore the request altogether. This year, the Air Force requested $7.2 billion in total, including about $2.9 billion to buy back capability the service cut in its fiscal year 2017 budget…
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There were many happy reunions on Monday at the Delaware Air National Guard Base when about 60 airmen returned home from their recent deployments serving overseas. Families and friends dotted the tarmac to greet the members of the 166th Airlift Wing as they returned home from taking part in Operation Freedom Sentinel. The group was comprised of pilots, crew, and maintenance teams operating the C-130s that transport personnel and cargo. Staff Sgt. Matthew Secamiglio embraced his children and wife after he got off the plane. He said the family had tried to stay in touch using technology and social media, but that didn't compare to reuniting in person. "Everythin…
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Philippine Air Force outgoing commanding general Lieutenant General Jeffrey Delgado stated that one of the two refurbished C-130 aircraft amounting to PHP1.6 Billion from the United States of America will be delivered on March 15. For now, the Philippine Air Force technical working group is in US to inspect the C-130 before it will be delivered in March while the other one will be delivered in September. Meanwhile, for the last time, the outgoing PAF commanding general will inspect Air Force troops and air assets during his retirement and turnover ceremony in Lipa, Batangas tomorrow. At the same time, the two FA-50 fighter jets acquired by the Armed Forces of…
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Returning air power as quickly as possible to the warfighter - that's the goal of the C-130 Air Force Special Operations Command Acceleration Team here. Following the successful delivery of an AC-130U gunship in February, a dedicated team of 50 maintenance professionals in the C-130 AFSOC Acceleration Flight forged ahead with two additional aircraft currently on station. A total of six AFSOC planes are scheduled for accelerated programmed depot maintenance at Robins in fiscal 2016. One has been delivered. The first of three MC-130H Combat Talons and a second gunship are currently here. These high-demand aircraft are a direct result of a team effort that once…
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The New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing transported 3,900 people, and carried 4 million pounds of supplies and 1.2 million pounds of fuel to stations around Antarctica during its annual support five- month mission for the National Science Foundation which ended this week. The wing, which flies the LC-130, a Hercules transport equipped with skies, began flying missions in support of the U.S. Antarctic Program in October, 2015 as part of Operation Deep Freeze, the U.S. military’s support for Antarctic research. The wing wrapped up its mission at the end of February and the six LC-130 “Ski Birds” – the only ski-equipped aircraft in the U.S. inventory—and…
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More than 100 Airmen from the 920th Rescue Wing here trained with Royal Canadian Air Force search-and-rescue personnel during an annual exercise in Key West, Florida, March 2-6. During the search-and-rescue exercise, or SAREX, the Reserve Airmen and their counterparts practiced land and water rescue operations on the island just 90 miles from Cuba. The 920th RQW supported the exercise with two HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and three HC-130P/N King refueling aircraft, while the Canadians flew one CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and two CC-130 Hercules aircraft. Col. Brett Howard, 920th RQW vice commander, said the SAREX was important because the U.S. and Canadian service…
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Lockheed Martin Corp. has won a modification contract from the U.S. Air Force for the C-130J multi-year production aircraft. This $106 million contract was awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH. This latest contract will provide procurement funding for long-lead efforts related to 11 fiscal 2017 C-130J aircraft in the following configuration: 2 C-130J-30, 3 HC-130J, 5 MC-130J and 1 KC-130J. Work is scheduled to be complete by Jul 31, 2017 and will be performed in Marietta, GA. The contract will use fiscal 2016 Air Force and Navy aircraft procurement funds. The latest model in Lockheed Martin's Hercules …
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An HC-130 Hercules aircrew returned to Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Oahu, in late January after a two-week Joint Interagency Task Force South counter-narcotics patrol in the Eastern Pacific. During deployment the aircrew monitored and detected the movement of narcotics from drug smuggling vessels into the U.S. resulting in the interdiction of 1,872 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $28.2 million. The aircrew flew 60 hours and more than 7,250 miles in support of the counter-narcotics mission. “The hard work and commitment demonstrated by this aircrew to support the Coast Guard’s missions was remarkable,” said Cmdr. J…
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Reuters reports that Germany could be buying the C-130 from Lockheed Martin as the A400M is considered too big and wide to operate out of certain runways. Two sources said the decision is unrelated to the current issues with the A400M and the Luftwaffe has a requirement for up to 10 aircraft. Source: http://air.dfns.net/2016/03/17/germany-could-become-newest-operator-of-c-130/ View full article
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The 403rd Wing is going through a period of growth with the activation of an additional aircraft maintenance squadron solely focused on keeping the 10 815th Airlift Squadron's C-130Js healthy and in the air. With the approval of a new manning document, the total authorizations for positions in the unit currently being called Detachment 1, is scheduled to be approximately 145 maintenance professionals. This is roughly the same size as any other active duty C-130 squadron. "About 55 of the new employees will be full-time Air Reserve Technicians. The rest will be traditional reservists," said Col. Jay Johnson, 403rd Maintenance Group commander. The current exist…
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Due to the work of the C-130 Air Force Special Operations Command Acceleration Flight here, the "quiet professionals" of AFSOC can rest assured that an AC-130 gunship will be at their disposal whenever and wherever the mission calls. During a tour of 560th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron maintenance operations March 22, 2016, Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, AFSOC commander, described how his command's inventory didn't include many of the aircraft that maintainers here are working accelerated programmed depot maintenance on. "This is not by accident that we have come here to show our appreciation to all of you," said Heithold, a master navigator with more than 3,400 fligh…
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Lockheed Martin will be delivering the new batch of C-130J transport military aircraft in 2017, Abhay Paranjape, Business Development Director of C-130 said today. “We will deliver all 6 C-130J Super Hercules in 2017 to the Indian Air Force,” Paranjape told at the press conference today on sidelines of the DefExpo 2016. In addition, the US-firm is also in discussion with the India Meteorological Department for specially configured C-130J aircraft that fly into typhoons and hurricanes to obtain information about major storms far more detailed than is provided by weather satellites. When quizzed about opening F-16 production line in India, Paranja…
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The Air Force mismanaged its inventory of spare C-130J Super Hercules parts, building up a stockpile worth tens of millions of dollars, according to a newly released report by the Pentagon’s top watchdog. Maintenance and contracting officials were primarily focused on ensuring that spare parts were available and effective, but didn’t have adequate controls in place to prevent unneeded parts from being purchased, said the DoD Inspector General. “As a result, the Air Force paid Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce to accumulate Air Force–owned excess C-130J spare parts inventory,” according to the IG report How much excess inventory was accumulated by …
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France is buying missiles, sensors and fire control equipment so they can quickly convert their C-130J transports to gunships. This is done using a version of the Harvest Hawk kits developed by the U.S. Marine Corps. First use was in 2010 over Afghanistan and were a success. This "instant gunship" system works by packaging weapons and sensors so they can be quickly rolled into a C-130 transport and hooked up. This takes a few hours and turns the C-130 into a gunship (similar in capabilities existing AC-130 gunships). The Harvest Hawk sensor package consists of day/night vidcams with magnification capability. The weapons currently consist of ten Griffin missile la…
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MANILA - One of the two C-130T cargo planes that form part of the Philippine Air Force's capability upgrade funded by both national and US Foreign Military Financing arrived in the country just before midnight Wednesday. A statement from the public information office of the PAF’s 2nd Air Division said the C130T, one of two promised US President Barack Obama, landed at 11:25 p.m. at Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. “The C-130T aircraft may be viewed by the public for the first time during its formal transfer, acceptance and blessing in a ceremony presided by the Secretary of National Defense and temporarily scheduled in the afternoon of April 12, 2016 at Colonel …
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