Lockheed Martin has reached a production milestone for its C-130J Super Hercules aircraft after delivering the 500th transport plane to the West Virginia Air National Guard’s 130th Airlift Wing.
The new C-130J-30 aircraft is part of the ongoing modernization of 130 AW’s legacy C-130 Hercules airlifting fleet operated from McLaughlin Air National Guard Base in West Virginia, Lockheed said Thursday.
The Super Hercules, the current C-130 production model, is designed to provide an increase in cargo space and range, decrease in required crew members and offer other technology upgrades over legacy Hercules units.
It features 17 different configurations to support various missions such as military and commercial transport, aerial firefighting, search and rescue, and weather reconnaissance.
130 AW is one of the longtime operators of C-130s in Lockheed’s customer base.