Four of the Air Force’s new C-130J tactical airlifters flew a total of 5,444 sorties over the course of a 20-month “trial” deployment to Southwest Asia, according to statistics just released by Lockheed Martin. Those four transports—from Air National Guard units in California, Maryland, and Rhode Island—hauled more than 12,000 tons of cargo and 70,000 passengers. Air Mobility Command declared initial operational capability with the J Model last fall.
As with previous stealth aircraft unveilings, the Air Force’s imagery of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter has been doctored to keep adversaries guessing about its true shaping and design philosophy.