Major US aerospace and defence group Lockheed Martin believes that the ability of its C-130J Hercules II military airlifter to be reconfigured for other missions by use of palletised roll-on roll-off systems opens the way to significant South African industrial participation, should the South African Air Force (SAAF) order the aircraft. The SAAF currently operates a number of first-generation C-130BZ Hercules, originally acquired in 1963 and so now some 53 years old.

“Roll-on, roll-off [mission] modules would provide excellent industrial participation opportunities for South African industry,” affirmed Lockheed Martin VP: business development initiatives Dennys Plessas in a media briefing on Wednesday. “We’d work with Denel and other companies [on this].”

Various countries already use such modules to give their C-130J aircraft multi-mission capability. “Most of them [modules] are built by other companies [not Lockheed Martin],” pointed out Lockheed Martin international business development (C-130J, maritime and special mission aircraft) executive Scott Burleson. He added that South African industry would be perfectly capable of producing such modules.

While the basic C-130J is a transport aircraft for troops and equipment, it, like the previous generation Hercules models, can be and has been adapted for many other roles. These include maritime surveillance, air-to-air refuelling, medical evacuation, attack (“gunship”), special operations, polar mission support, and even VIP transport. Roll-on roll-off modules can be used to configure aircraft for maritime surveillance, intelligence and surveillance, firefighting, medical evacuation and VIP roles, for example.

“The C-130J is a multi-mission airplane,” highlighted Burleson. “It can’t do everything but it can do a lot. It has long range and can operate at extreme altitudes and high temperatures. We do a lot of roll-on, roll-off type missions. It is especially useful for customers with small fleets.”

Although the C-130J externally looks very similar to previous Hercules variants, under the skin it is very different and much improved, with new generation glass cockpit, avionics and much more efficient and economical engines and propellors. “We believe that the [C-130]J can solve a number of the challenges facing the Defence Force,” he stated. These include strategic transport, to replace the now elderly C-130BZs, air-to-air refuelling, to replace Boeing 707s retired by the SAAF in 2007, and maritime surveillance, to replace the SAAF’s current C-47TPs, originally built during the Second World War and now more than 70 years old.