AIRCRAFT PROGRAM

Medium-lift military transport aircraft.

High wing design with 4 Rolls-Royce turboprop engines mounted under wing, each driving a composite scimitar Dowty propeller. The 2 spar wings are constructed from aluminium and strengthened with carbon fibre composite skins, wing flaps and graphite-epoxy trailing edge panels. The rear fuselage is swept up to incorporate a hydraulically operated ramp beneath the empennage which, along with the main loading door, can be opened mid-flight.

Three crew - pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster are seated in a glass cockpit facing four multi-purpose LCD colour displays and five digital avionics displays. Each pilot has a head up display and night vision goggles and are seated either side of main central yoke.

High wing design and pannier mounted landing gear enables the aircraft to land on short, unprepared airstrips. The large pressurised cargo hold with low floor and stretched fuselage, compared to earlier variants, means the aircraft is adaptable to multiple missions and capable of carrying up to 20 000 kilograms of load.

Type variants

Variant	Launch/First flight	Production end
Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules	1991 / 1996		Baseline variant, similar to C-130H, includes stretched variant: C-130J-30.
Lockheed Martin KC-130J	2004 / 2004		Aerial refuelling tanker variant.
Lockheed Martin LM-100J	2014 / 2017		Commercial variant of C-130J-300.

Recent news

• 04/06/2026:  Press Release:  Merlin successfully completes critical design review for C-130J autonomy program with USSOCOM
• 14/05/2026:  Press Release:  Merlin unveils plans for AI-powered autonomy for commercial cargo aircraft
• 28/04/2026:  Press Release:  Near Earth Autonomy awarded program to prototype autonomous logistics aircraft for U.S. Marine Corps
• 16/03/2026:  Press Release:  Merlin and Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. IV announce closing of business combination
• 05/03/2026:  Press Release:  Merlin successfully completes Preliminary Design Review for C-130J autonomy program with USSOCOM

View full news archive for the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules.

See recent updates (latest 08/06/2026)