Lockheed Martin last month delivered the Air Force’s seventh HC-130J combat rescue airplane and 15th MC-130J special-mission aircraft, announced company officials. The HC-130J, aircraft number 5716, arrived at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., on Feb. 28 from the company’s manufacturing facility in Marietta, Ga., states a company release. The MC-130J, aircraft number 5714, touched down six days before that at Cannon AFB, N.M., according to a second company release. The Air Force has plans to procure 37 HC-130Js for Air Combat Command—15 of which are already on order—to replace the legacy HC-130N/P fleet. At the same time, the service intends to acquire 85 MC-130Js for Air Force Special Operations Command. Lockheed Martin is already under contract for 27 of those MC-130Js. Sixteen of the 85 MC-130Js will undergo post-production conversion to the new AC-130J gunship standard. (See also Keep ’em Coming and Commando II Times Fourteen.)
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.