New Delhi: Lockheed Martin is proposing its C-130J Super Hercules for India’s military transport aircraft deal. The company plans to establish a major production facility in India, the first outside the US. This move aims to strengthen India’s tactical airlift capabilities and the Quad alliance. The C-130J offers proven performance and versatility for various missions.
As India prepares to procure up to 80 military transport planes, US aerospace major Lockheed Martin has pitched its C-130J Super Hercules as the best choice and said the aircraft will provide it a “stronger” heft for tactical airlift among the Quad nations.
If Lockheed Martin gets the opportunity, then it will set up a mega hub in India to produce the “iconic” aircraft, and it will be the first such global facility outside of the US, top officials of the company said.
To date, Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 560 aircraft from the C-130J Super Hercules family, which have accumulated more than three million flight hours. The leading tactical airlift has been serving 28 operators in 23 nations.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) currently operates 12 C-130Js.
Alongside the standard transport variant, Lockheed Martin offers multiple specialised configurations of the C-130J which enable the aircraft to perform intelligence, electronic warfare, and special forces support, search and rescue and command roles.
Besides India, the three other Quad member nations – the US, Australia and Japan — have been operating C-130Js.
“The C-130J Super Hercules reflects proven performance and versatility across 20 unique mission sets. It holds 54 world records. Proven in every challenging operational environment, the C-130J’s structural durability is the standard for reliability, safety, and excellence,” said Patricia Trish Pagan, Vice President, Air Mobility and Maritime Missions at Lockheed Martin.
Pagan said Lockheed Martin is the preferred partner globally because the C-130Js are “built to deliver and built to last”, adding the aircraft will be the “best option for India”.
In 2022, the IAF issued a Request for Information (RFI) to purchase medium transport aircraft (MTA) to replace its ageing fleet of Soviet-era AN-32 and IL-76 planes.
The IAF plans to procure around 80 military transport aircraft, and the multi-billion dollar procurement is likely to be cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council in the next few weeks.
Brazilian plane maker Embraer’s KC-390 Millennium aircraft and Airbus Defence and Space’s A-400M plane are also in the race for the MTA programme.
The US defence major has partnered with Tata Advanced Systems to bid for the C-130J Super Hercules programme.
