C-130 Hercules News

September 14, 2006 (by Lockheed Martin) - Lockheed Martin hosted a ceremony to mark the delivery of the first upgraded KC-130T aerial refueling aircraft to the United States Marine Corps at its Donaldson Site Operations facility in Greenville, South Carolina.
The ceremony was attended by representatives from Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, the Defense Contract Management Agency, and Lockheed Martin Aircraft & Logistics Centers (LMALC). The upgrades involved the installation of defensive systems that provide protection against hostile ground threats. This is the first of several aircraft to be similarly modified at the Greenville facility.

“Lockheed Martin has proven my faith in the team here at Greenville and the fleet loves the quality product that has been produced,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Mark Stone, program manager for the Support/Commercial Derivative Aircraft Program Office (PMA-207). “Lockheed Martin has delivered a warfighting asset back to the Marines and every flight these upgraded aircraft make will help save lives.”

“The delivery of this first upgraded aircraft was an example of the outstanding teamwork shown by both Naval Air Systems Command and Lockheed Martin,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Kuhn, PMA-207 deputy program manager for the C/KC-130 Hercules. “Our teaming allowed us to work through a lot of challenges and we delivered a vital weapons system to our warfighters on schedule and on budget.”

The goal of the upgrade program is to have one standard configuration for the KC-130T’s defensive systems and night vision lighting. Once these upgrades are installed, the KC-130T and the newer KC-130Js will have very similar defensive and night vision systems.