LOCKHEED MARTIN has begun final assembly of the first production C-130J Hercules 2. The aircraft, the first of 12 stretched C-130J-30s for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), will join the certification flight-test programme, which has been boosted to eight aircraft to recover delays (Flight International, 19-25 June).
Three C-130Js are now being flown, following the maiden flight of the second Royal Air Force C-130J-30 and the return to service of the first RAF aircraft after it was retrofitted with composite flaps. Lockheed Martin had accumulated more than 90h by the beginning of August, primarily, on the first US Air Force shortbody C-130J.
Assembly of the first RAAF aircraft marks the transition of the C-130 production line from the present H model to the new J. The last C-130H will be delivered in late 1996, and Lockheed Martin is planning to produce at least two C-130Js a month from January 1997.
Canada has purchased two L-100 commercial Hercules for conversion to CC-130s. Lockheed Martin has now sold all of its "white-tail" Hercules 1s.
Source: Flight International
