The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin $889.5 million to supply 11 C-130J-based aircraft, announced the Pentagon. The order includes four HC-130J rescue aircraft for Air Combat Command, seven MC-130J special mission aircraft for Air Force Special Operations Command, and a single C-130J combat delivery airplane for Air Mobility Command, according to the contract description, which is included in the Defense Department’s Oct. 23 list of major contracts. The order also includes a single KC-130J tanker aircraft for the Marine Corps, company spokesman Peter Simmons told the Daily Report. Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Ga., plant is scheduled to complete delivery of these aircraft by July 2015, according to DOD.
The Air Force kicked off one of its biggest exercises this week with the latest edition of Bamboo Eagle, featuring combined virtual and live training scenarios focused on test the command-and-control “nervous system” leaders need to operate on a complex joint battlefield spread over vast distances.
