The Air Force recently received two more C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, including one HC-130J model dedicated to personnel recovery, Lockheed Martin announced. On Dec. 17, Air Force crews ferried an extended-range C-130J-30 Super Hercules from the Lockheed facility in Marietta, Ga., to Little Rock AFB, Ark., and on Dec. 18 another crew ferried an HC-130J Combat King II to Moody AFB, Ga. The aircraft are the latest in a line of deliveries of the J-model to the Air Force, which are replacing older C-130s, such as the aging H-model. Also this month, an Air Force crew received the fifth C-130J model for conversion to the new AC-130J Ghostrider gunship for Air Force Special Operations Command.
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.