Lockheed C-130 Hercules variant
Lockheed C-130 Hercules C-130J Super Hercules
A comprehensive update of the Hercules with new Rolls-Royce AE 2100 engines, a digital flight deck, and other renewed systems. The United Kingdom launched the program on 16 December 1994 with an order for 25 aircraft worth $1.6 billion. FAA type certification followed in September 1998 after 4,000 hours of flight testing, and deliveries began in 1999. By March 2022, 500 aircraft had been delivered to 26 operators in 22 countries.
History
The C-130J Super Hercules represents the most thorough update of the Hercules program, with new Rolls-Royce AE 2100 turboprop engines, a digital flight deck, and numerous renewed systems. The program was launched on 16 December 1994 with an order for 25 aircraft from the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, at a total fixed price of $1.6 billion, following a lengthy UK debate over buying European or American transport aircraft; the order was paired with a commitment to purchase 40 to 50 examples of the future Airbus A400M.
Development of the C-130J suffered significant delays: first a three-month slip due to software integration problems, then a further nine-month delay after undiscovered stall characteristics emerged, caused by the added engine power and the increase in propeller blades from four to six. Lockheed Martin tried twenty unsuccessful aerodynamic fixes before adding a stick pusher that automatically corrects the aircraft's attitude if the crew does not respond to a stall warning. In late 1997 icing problems were also found on the vertical stabilizer, caused by the new engines producing less bleed air, forcing an extension of the de-icing system and adding a further five months of delay.
These problems pushed development costs, initially budgeted at $300 million, past $900 million by mid-1998, and left Lockheed Martin owing the RAF roughly $50 million in penalties for delivery delays. FAA type certification followed in September 1998, after 4,000 hours of flight testing, and first deliveries began in 1999, as the Hercules C4 (the stretched C-130J-30) and Hercules C5 (the standard C-130J) for the RAF.
The program also went through a budget crisis in the United States: on 23 December 2004 the Pentagon decided to end USAF procurement, a decision reversed on 10 May 2005 after it was determined that cancelling already-committed orders would cost more than completing them. In June 2008 the USAF awarded a $470 million contract for six additional KC-130Js. By March 2022, Lockheed Martin had delivered 500 C-130Js to 26 operators in 22 countries, cementing it as the only Hercules version still in production.