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317th Airlift Group at Dyess AFB, Tex., took delivery of its 20th C-130J Super Hercules transport. The aircraft flew in on June 12 from Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing plant in Marietta, Ga., according to a company release. This airframe is the seventh new-build C-130J to join the group this year. Overall, Dyess will field 28 Super Hercules aircraft, with all expected to be in place next year. They will give Dyess the largest single C-130J force across the Air Force and in the world, said Lockheed Martin. The new transports are replacing the group’s legacy C-130H airplanes.
U.S. munitions have been expended at a high rate during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, prompting concerns that the Pentagon is eating into weapons stockpiles it needs to deter threats around the world. Yet the newly released $1.5 trillion defense budget request was developed before the war against Iran and…