Maj. Gen. Richard Johnston, the Air Force’s assistant deputy undersecretary for international affairs, last week flew the Air Force’s newest C-130J transport to Dyess AFB, Tex., where it joined the 317th Airlift Group. With the arrival of aircraft number 5715 on March 12 from Lockheed Martin’s assembly plant in Marietta, Ga., Dyess now has 26 of the 28 new-build C-130Js in place that the group will operate, according to a March 14 base release. The next C-130J is slated to arrive at the Texas base in June and the full complement is expected to be in place by year’s end, according to Air Force and company officials. In related news, earlier this month, the Air Force’s eighth new-build HC-130J combat rescue platform, aircraft number 5717, arrived at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., from Marietta, announced Lockheed Martin. (See also Lockheed Martin’s March 14 release.)
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.