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Lockheed Martin outlines possible offsets should South Africa buy its airlifter

29th April 2016

By: Keith Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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Major US aerospace and defence group Lockheed Martin believes that the ability of its C-130J Super Hercules 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 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 the South African industry,” affirmed Lockheed Martin VP: business development initiatives Dennys Plessas in a recent media briefing. “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 the South African industry would be perfectly capable of producing such modules.

While the basic C-130J has the core role of transporting troops and equipment and carrying and dropping paratroopers and their gear, 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 the maritime surveillance, intelligence and surveillance, firefighting, medical evacuation and VIP roles, for example.

“The C-130J is a multimission airplane,” he highlighted. “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 a new-generation glass cockpit, avionics and much more efficient and economical engines and propellors. It also has an enhanced cargo handling system that speeds up both loading and unloading and cargo hold reconfiguration. “The -J is not a small improvement over the -BZ, it is a huge improvement,” stated Plessas.

“We believe that the -J can solve a number of the challenges facing the Defence Force,” stated Burleson. These include strategic transport, to replace the now elderly C-130BZs, air-to-air refuelling (to replace the 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.

South Africa subjected its first-generation C-130BZs to a unique cockpit upgrade, which, it is believed, brought its performance close to that of the second-generation C-130H model. The C-130J is the third-generation version. Lockheed Martin is proposing that the SAAF acquire the stretched C-130J-30 variant, not the baseline ‘short’ C-130J. While the C-130J can take six cargo pallets, the C-130J-30 can carry eight, for example.

The C-130J-30 can carry 128 combat troops or 92 paratroopers or 97 medical litters or 24 parachute delivery system bundles. It can carry a 55% greater payload than the C-130H at a range of 2 500 nm. Operating from the SAAF’s main transport base, Waterkloof (just south of Pretoria), a C-130J-30 could carry a 15 000 kg payload for 2 509 km, compared with 1 510 km for a C-130H. Employed in the maritime surveillance role, the C-130J-30, fitted with external fuel tanks, would have a patrol endurance of 7.7 hours at a distance of 1 000 nm from its base, or 3.8 hours at 1 500 nm.

Lockheed Martin would provide full support and sustainment should the SAAF acquire the C-130J or -J-30. “If you buy a C-130J, you don’t just buy an airplane, you get the capability to operate that airplane,” affirmed Burleson. South African company Denel Aviation is already an authorised maintenance, repair and overhaul centre for the Hercules. A civilian version of the aircraft (based on the C-130J-30), designated the LM-100J, is now in production and South African operator Safair will be the second customer for this version.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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