The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph offers the first public confirmation that the Air Force has decided not to apply the avionics modernization upgrade to its oldest C-130 Hercules. In response to Telegraph questions about workload share that might go to the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia, Lt. Col. William Graham, the C-130 AMP chief, based at Aeronautical Systems Center in Ohio, states that the upgrade program—currently going through a new competition—would not cover C-130E models. The Air Force has been analyzing the best approach for months. USAF’s top uniformed official, Gen. Michael Moseley, said in April that he would prefer spending money to buy new J model C-130s rather than applying a band-aid to an older Herc.
A new Air Force plan for how many fighters it needs in the next decade marks a sharp upturn from what it thought it needed just seven years ago. But analysts worry that the aspirational plan now in Congress' hands doesn’t make a tight enough connection to national strategy.
