C-130J Super Hercules fleet passes 3m flight hours milestone

The US defence prime made the announcement involving more than 545 Super Hercules operating worldwide during the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom on 22 July.

The Australian Defence Force is one of 21 nations contributing to the flight time achievement as the aircraft is used across 18 different mission requirements including combat, transport, aerial refuelling, special operations, medevac, humanitarian relief, search and rescue, weather reconnaissance, firefighting, and commercial freight delivery.

The Australian federal government has previously announced it will purchase 20 new C-130J Hercules aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force for $9.8 billion to replace and expand upon 12 Hercules aircraft currently operated by Air Force. Delivery of the first aircraft is expected from late 2027.

The Australian Defence Force uses it’s C-130J Hercules aircraft for the deployment of personnel, equipment and humanitarian supplies as well as search and rescue missions, disaster relief and medical evacuation.

“From the highest landing strip in the world to the snow-packed runways of Antarctica and all the many mission locations in between, these 3 million hours represent the proven power and wide-reaching presence of the C-130J’s global fleet,” said Rod McLean, vice-president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s air mobility and maritime missions line of business.

“In celebrating this achievement, we also honour the many crew members, maintainers and airlift partners who truly keep the global Super Hercules fleet ready for any and every mission requirement.”

The 3 million flight hours were logged beginning with the C-130J’s first flight on 5 April 1996 through the beginning of July 2024.

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Countries with C-130Js contributing to these flight hours include (in order of delivery) the United Kingdom, the United States (the US Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard; Pallas Aviation), Australia, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Canada, India, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Tunisia, Israel, Kuwait, South Korea, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, France, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Germany.

Also contributing to these flight hours is the Lockheed Martin Flight Operations team, whose crews are the first to fly every C-130J produced, and the US Air Force Defense Contract Management Agency crews that support C-130J test flights at Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics site in Marietta, Georgia, home of the Super Hercules production line.

Super Hercules variants used to log these hours include the C-130J and C-130J-30 (tactical airlifter), KC-130J (tanker), WC-130J (weather reconnaissance), EC-130J (information operations), MC-130J (Special Operations), HC-130J (search and rescue, US Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard variants), AC-130J (gunship) and LM-100J (commercial freighter).

Hours flown include test, training, and operational missions on all seven continents.

The milestone continues a series of major announcements at the defence prime with Lockheed Martin Australia announcing it has rebranded its Science, Technology, Engineering Leadership and Research Laboratory (STELaRLab) as Advanced Systems and Technologies to better align with the mission-directed objectives and capability development needs of the Australian Defence Force.

The facility, established in 2016, remains the first and most advanced multidisciplinary Lockheed Martin research operations centre outside of the US, facilitating programs that include counter-hypersonics, hypersonics, autonomy, robotics and command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR).

Advanced Systems and Technologies facilitates the work of 57 staff across sites in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, partnering with higher education institutions and offering scholarships, internships and graduate positions for highly-skilled Australians nationally – boosting defence and STEM-based workforces.

“Working with world-leading companies like Lockheed Martin is crucial to strengthening our local defence industry, and delivering more jobs for Australians,” Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh MP said.

“We welcome Lockheed Martin Australia’s commitment to collaborating with Australian research partners to invest in homegrown innovation and put Australia at the forefront of next-generation technologies. Collaborations like with Lockheed Martin Australia develop our sovereign capabilities and help deliver a future made in Australia.

“With its focus on the acceleration of emergent technologies, Advanced Systems and Technologies has the potential to significantly lift Australia’s industrial capability through unprecedented collaboration with government, industry and academia,” Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand chief executive Warren McDonald said.

“Advanced Systems and Technologies will drive capabilities and translate innovative technologies into higher technology readiness levels that both demonstrate operational impact and meet the Australian Defence Forces’ most pressing needs.”

In addition, Lockheed Martin Australia welcomed the recent delivery of the first tranche of sensor systems for Australia’s Joint Air Battle Management System, AIR 6500, from passive radar developer Silentium Defence earlier this month.

The Silentium Defence Maverick passive radar systems provide a new 3D capability that enables instantaneous, wide-field-of-view surveillance. It also supports tracking of targets with even higher fidelity and greater accuracy for cross cuing of complimentary sensors and effectors.

The rate and complexity with which threats are evolving in today’s battlespace is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Silentium Defence CEO Dr James Palmer said.

“Asymmetric advantage requires access to innovative technologies delivered at pace and accurate, real-time data for more informed decision making. With handover of our ‘Maverick Fortress-3D’ passive radar systems, Silentium Defence has delivered both technology faster and an edge for Defence, and we’re immensely proud of that achievement.”

The Maverick Fortress-3D passive radar utilises passive sensing to bring 3D covert surveillance to the battlefield. Deployed as a compact, cabin-based solution, the system can be operated either independently as a standalone asset or networked into a common operating picture.

Designed and developed in Australia, Maverick Fortress-3D has a low electromagnetic signature, making it difficult to geolocate and eliminate, and is the ideal expeditionary surveillance system for land, sea, and air targets.

“We are delighted to partner with Silentium Defence on AIR 6500 since 2017. Today, Silentium Defence continues to show its firm commitment to agile contracting and rapid capability delivery that underpins the AIR 6500 program,” McDonald said.

“I commend Silentium Defence on its early delivery of the first sensors under the AIR 6500 Tranche 2A contract. This is an important milestone that shows Australian industry can and has stepped up to deliver accelerated sovereign capability to meet Defence’s mission.

“In partnership with Defence, Lockheed Martin Australia is drawing on the nation’s best homegrown technologies to build an advanced, resilient and affordable air battle management system that bolsters Australia’s national security.”