Sivil Heercules

Lockheed launches civilian version of C-130J

By: Jon Hemmerdinger

Washington DC

14:18 05 Feb 2014

Lockheed Martin has launched an updated civilian version of its C-130J Super Hercules transport, and expects to receive its first order from a customer later this year.

On 4 February, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company announced that it had kicked off the certification process on 21 January 2014, when it filed a notification letter with the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Lockheed says the LM-100J Super Hercules should achieve its first flight in 2017. The company expects to receive FAA certification by 2018, following a one-year flight test programme, and plans to deliver the first example that same year.
The timing comes amid a period of spending cuts by the C-130J's primary US military customers, making the new civilian LM-100J an attractive source of potential non-military Super Hercules revenue, says the company. "This would give us stability in [the Super Hercules] production programme and supply chain," Lockheed says, adding that the new aircraft meshes with a broader effort to diversify revenue.

Lockheed Martin

The company hopes the aircraft, which will have a base price of around $65 million, will follow the success of its predecessor, the civilian L-100 Hercules. Lockheed sold roughly 115 of those aircraft, which were based on the first-generation C-130, between 1964 and 1992. Now, however, many L-100s are approaching the end of their life cycles, sparking demand for new civilian freighters, it says.
"We see a natural progression of being able to recapitalise those fleets with an aircraft [that has] better reliability, better capability [and] better maintainability, safety and performance," Lockheed tells Flightglobal.
The LM-100J is modelled after the latest-generation C-130J Super Hercules, which has been in production since the early 1990s. Unlike previous updates to the C-130, Lockheed says it took a "revolutionary approach" with the J model, giving it digital avionics and making a series of design changes to improve performance and reduce operating costs.
"All of those concepts are flowing to the LM-100J," Lockheed says.When it first developed the original C-130J, it also received a type certificate for a civilian version. But primary customers were militaries, and Lockheed says it lost the civilian certificate as the aircraft's military avionics, communications and navigation equipment evolved.
Described by the company as a "civil multi-purpose air freighter," the new LM-100J will have modern avionics and a "digital back end" system with a loadmaster computer station that will assist with loading and weight and balance. The cargo compartment will be 4.6m (15ft) longer than the L-100, providing space for two additional pallets, and the aircraft will be able to carry 33% more payload on a 2,500nm (4,630km) flight, says Lockheed.
The LM-100J, which has the ability to fly 2,200nm with a 18,200kg (40,000lb) payload, has about 50% more range than the L-100, according to Lockheed. Its top speed will be 355kt (657km/h); 10% faster than its predecessor. In addition, the LM-100J will be operated by two flight crew (instead of three for the L-100), will burn 15% less fuel and have maintenance costs that are 35% less, the airframer says.