US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin has rolled out the first example of the commercial version of its C-130J Super Hercules military airlifter. The civilian model is designated the LM-100J and it was built, and the roll-out ceremony took place at, the company’s plant at Marietta, in the US state of Georgia. The aircraft’s first flight is scheduled to take place during the northern spring. The company announced its intent to develop the LM-100J in February 2014. It will now pursue a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) civil-type certificate update. The first LM-100J will carry out test flights in support of this certificate update process.

ASL Aviation, which holds 25% of South African air freight and specialist aviation services company Safair Operations (which is also the parent of low-cost carrier FlySafair), signed a letter of intent with Lockheed Martin in 2014 for ten LM-100Js. It has generally been assumed that these aircraft will be operated by Safair. However, ASL Aviation/Safair is not the launch customer for the LM-100J. That launch customer has been secured but its identity has not yet been revealed.

“Today’s [February 9] rollout not only marks another accomplishment for [the] Super Hercules, but it also reflects the aircraft’s capability to evolve to meet customer requirements,” affirmed Lockheed Martin air mobility and maritime missions VP and GM George Shultz. “The LM-100J programme has exceeded all expectations in moving from an idea to a reality. We are at this point thanks to [the] hard work and dedication of Lockheed Martin employees and suppliers, who have literally designed and built this new chapter of Super Hercules operations. The FAA has been an essential partner in this aircraft’s production and we look forward to continuing to work together as we move into the LM-100J’s critical flight test phase.”

Like the C-130J, the LM-100J is intended to undertake a wide range of missions and roles, including to austere airfields. These would include the transport of oversized cargo, humanitarian relief, logistical support for mining operations, aerial delivery, oil and gas exploration, aerial firefighting, medical evacuation/air ambulance, personnel transport, oil dispersion/aerial spraying, and search and rescue.

Operational experience from more than 1.5-million flight hours accumulated by military C-130Js operated by 16 countries has resulted in improvements in the design of the LM-100J, which also incorporates technological developments. “This experience and advancement translates [in]to an aircraft that will deliver reliable service in a multirole platform for decades to come,” stated Lockheed Martin. “The LM-100J is the ninth production version of the Super Hercules aircraft and its commercial capabilities have the distinction of being the seventeenth different mission capability supported by the C-130J.”

The LM-100J will replace the previous commercial version of the basic Hercules design, the L-100, which was produced from 1964 to 1992. More than 100 L-100s were sold worldwide, to both commercial and government operators. (Safair currently operates six L-100-30 aircraft, which are operated around the world, and describes itself as “currently the leading commercial operator of the Lockheed Hercules aircraft”.)

The LM-100J has a maximum payload of 21 863 kg, an operating weight of 36 650 kg and a maximum take-off weight of 74 389 kg. It has a maximum cruise speed of 355 knots (true air speed) or 660 km/h. Range, with a 18 143 kg (40 000 lb) payload, is 2 450 nautical miles. It can operate from short, unprepared airfields without needing ground support equipment.

Lockheed Martin employs some 97 000 people around the world. With its head office in Bethesda, Maryland, in the US, it describes itself as being “principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services”.