14 Feb 2019

C-130J: The workhorse of air mobility

The C-130A entered service in 1956. Over the next four decades, the C-130 Hercules earned a reputation as the nation’s airlift workhorse. As such, the ‘Herk’ was never mistaken as a thoroughbred built for speed, nor a one-trick pony built to be great at a single mission. For 43 years, the Hercules conducted every mission imaginable for a cargo plane: airdrops, night vision operations, close-air support, air refueling, terrain following low-level, drop BLU-82 bombs, and many other missions. The C-130 proved itself as a warhorse during combat in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.