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.
The aircraft as engineered: what it is built from, the systems it flies with, and its configuration — each box a theme.
Notable technologies — each tag names a technology on our research record for this aircraft, with its fitting status: Primary, Standard, Option or Planned.
Technical reference compiled with AI research; a value appears only where two independent research passes and a web fact-check agree. Gaps are deliberate.
Supplier geography and market analysis for this program — with an Analytics subscription.
Subscribe| Variant | Launch / first flight | Production end | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules | 1991 / 1996 | Production: 2 (2025) Only two C-130J aircraft were delivered in 2025, with zero in Q4 2025, due to a communications system integration problem that caused Lockheed Martin to pause deliveries. This severely disrupted USAF modernization timelines. [medium]. 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. |
| Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company | News |
The program’s dated history — milestones, contracts, supplier selections and facilities, each linked to its source. Log in to view.
Information on this page is compiled from a variety of published sources; links do not necessarily imply recommendation or confirmation by the airframe manufacturer.
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