The US Air Force’s eet of ‘classic’ Hercules has
been in line for an essential avionics upgrade
for quite some time. Boeing was selected by the
USAF way back in 2001 as the prime contractor
for the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program
(AMP). A $4-billion contract was signed for the
development of a common cockpit avionics
system for 519 USAF C-130E and H models,
designed to meet forthcoming Global Air
Tra c Management (GATM) requirements and
improve workload management within the
cockpit, essentially doing away with the need
for a navigator. The Boeing solution was grand
and included six digital displays and a ight
management system from its 737 airliner.
Modi cation kits were initially planned to
have been installed from 2004 and to run over
a 10-year period. Indeed, rst deliveries for Air
Mobility Command were originally set for 2008.
In early 2004 the USAF announced that the
rst two Hercules units to be equipped with
AMP C-130s were to be the Air Force Reserve
Command’s 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell AFB,
Alabama, and the Idaho ANG’s 124th Wing in
Boise.
The rst Hercules to be inducted into AMP
arrived at Boeing’s San Antonio modi cation
facility in Texas on January 19, 2005, and it
started test ights in August the following year.
Then, in 2007, the program experienced a
critical Nunn-McCurdy cost breach, triggering a
mandatory ve-month review.
Boeing completed development test and
evaluation in July 2009 with three test aircraft
and by June 2010 had signed a contract to
begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) of AMP
kits following a successful Defense Acquisition
Board Milestone C production review. A
further two C-130Hs were being upgraded
with Boeing kits at Georgia’s Warner-Robins Air
Logistics Center; these were to be low-rate initial
production (LRIP) aircraft 1 and 2 (also known as
AMP 4 and 5).THE SAGA OF THE NEW COCKPIT
‘I’ve been in this
unit for 29 years and
I’ve fl own the F-16A right
through to the F-15C. The great thing
about the C-130 conversion is that we are
still fl ying a tactical aircraft. We fl y our
low-level missions at 300ft AGL [above
ground level] — that’s lower than the
fi ghters. We also operate regularly into
unimproved strips at night on night
vision goggles (NVGs). I’m a fi ghter guy
that’s used to big, wide, 10,000ft runways.
Now I’m being asked to fl y assault
landings, on dirt, at night, on strips that
are 20 yards wide and 3,000ft long! The
tactical portion of fl ying the C-130 is
fascinating.
‘When people look at this big transport
aircraft they think it’s bound to be boring;
fl ying straight and level and dropping stuff
off. But it really isn’t. I’ve been out there
with special forces paratroops at night
doing HALO [high-altitude low-opening]
drops on NVGs. The biggest thing for us
is that it’s a great role that continues our
mission, in the Hercules. In traditional
Montana ‘Vigilantes’ style, we are still
knocking it out of the park!’The Montana pilots are already enjoying
the tactical nature of the C-130 role.
Low-level ying and supporting special
operations are some of the highlights.The C-130H eet
has long been in
line for a cockpit
avionics upgrade.
The project hangs
in the balance, but
there is no doubt
on the need for
modernization.68 May 2015 http://www.combataircraft.net62-69 AMC part 1- Montana C.indd 68 20/03/2015 11:53