The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has retired the first of its five C-130H Hercules transports. The aircraft, bearing the serial number ‘NZ7003’, performed its final flight on 9 February, flying from RNZAF Base Auckland to Base Woodbourne near Blenheim.
The veteran aircraft had arrived in New Zealand way back in 1965, so it has served faithfully for 58 years. It was one of a trio that reached New Zealand that year, while the two others in the fleet are relative youngsters since they only arrived in 1969.
No. 40 Squadron operates these utilitarian workhorses, and they have flown to such distant places as the Middle East, South Pacific and Antarctica over the intervening years.
The C-130H fleet underwent a life extension programme beginning in 2005, adding an avionics upgrade and a structural refurbishment.
The days of the remaining quartet are numbered too, since they will soon be replaced by five brand new Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules purchased via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.
A contract, which was awarded without a competitive tender, was announced by Wellington on 5 June 2020. The government had approved a sole-source procurement the previous year. The government explained at the time that an FMS purchase reduced costs and allows collaboration with other nations on developments and system upgrades over the life of the aircraft.
The contract was worth NZD1.521 billion (USD990 million), and encompasses the five aircraft, a full-mission flight simulator and ground infrastructure upgrades. It stipulated that the first aircraft delivery would occur in 2024, and all five will be operating by the end of 2025.
Indeed, Lockheed Martin is expected to begin making New Zealand’s first C-130J in March once a critical design review is complete.
Their arrival will enable a phased withdrawal of the incumbent Hercules fleet, which has proven to be more and more difficult to keep flying. Indeed, on at least one occasion the complete Kiwi fleet of Hercules has been grounded and unavailable for missions.
The then defence minister at the time, Ron Mark, described this acquisition as his ‘highest priority’.
The C-130Js will come with equipment such as a wide-bandwidth, high-speed SATCOM system, plus an electro-optical/infrared camera. The SATCOM will permit imagery, data and video to be streamed in real time, and the camera can be used for aerial surveillance during humanitarian and disaster relief missions, or search and rescue tasks.
Like their predecessors, the new Hercules aircraft will need to operate in extreme environments like the frozen wastes of Antarctica or the topical humidity of the Pacific islands.
Certainly, the C-130J is more capable than the older C-130H and this translates into significant improvements. If flying to Samoa for a disaster relief mission, for example, it would take seven flights instead of ten, and 70 flight hours instead of 105, to deliver 50 pallets of supplies.
Its range of 2,400nm compares to 1,800nm for the C-130H, while the C-130J can accommodate 21 tonnes of cargo or 128 passengers, compared to 18.1 tonnes and 92 personnel for the latter.
Former defence minister Mark said of the associated simulator, it will help ‘build and maintain crew skills, and allow more demanding training scenarios to be attempted without risk to personnel, and while preserving flight hours for operational tasks’.
The RNZAF is also receiving four new P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing, the first of which touched down at RNZAF Base Ohakea in December 2022. Incoming P-8As have allowed the full retirement of the venerable P-3K2 Orion fleet of five aircraft.
Another platform that needs replacement is the RNZAF’s pair of Boeing 757 transport aircraft. Their lifespan matures at the end of the decade.
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