In a recent article on the Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin) C-130 Hercules (AKA "Herc"), I discussed key technical features that have made this venerable plane such a faithful workhorse for the Armed Forces for 70 years (69 years and 11 months as these words are written, if you want to be technically nitpicky about it). That article also made reference to 18 certified diverse mission profiles that the current variant (the C-130J Super Hercules) fits.

Having thusly previously covered the "What" factor of the "Herc," Simple Flying shall dig a little deeper into the "How," i,e, how the plane adapts to all those US military missions types and thus so fabulously fulfills the military mantra of "Adapt, Improvise, Overcome."

Bare-bones basics

At the very basic level, we might as well start with the early history of the C-130, courtesy of Lockheed Martin's "Hercules History" page, more specifically the subheading "One Plane, Many Missions":

"From the beginning, the C-130 has featured a large, unobstructed, fully-pressurized cargo hold that can rapidly be reconfigured for the carriage of troops, stretchers, passengers or airdrops of troops and/or equipment into battle zones. The C-130’s high-wing design places the cargo floor at truck-bed height above the ground. The C-130 also features an integral 'roll-on/roll-off' rear-loading ramp Coupled with its tremendous lift capacity, long range, and austere landing field capabilities, it is a true tactical airlifter."

The Lockheed Corporation officially became known as Lockheed on March 15, 1995, when it merged with Martin Marietta

"The C-130 airframe was immediately recognized for its incredible versatility, prompting it to be quickly adapted for use in supporting special mission requirements. The first of some 70 different variants – a ski-equipped version for resupplying Distant Early Warning radar sites-- was initially tested in 1957. An electronic reconnaissance version came soon after."

As a personal aside, I can certainly vouch for the 130's ability to carry passengers, as I myself was a passenger on several Herc flights during my time as a damn dirty stinkin' mercenary, er, privateer, er, private military contractor in Iraq.

I can ascertain that the combo of the turboprop engine noise (there's a reason the crew chiefs offer the pax earplugs) those hard plastic sideways-facing seats (wherein you're sitting hip-to-hip and thigh-to-thigh and getting awfully cozy with your fellow pax) make Cattle Class, er, Economy/Coach Class on a commercial airliner seem downright luxurious by comparison!

AC-130 gunship: big guns and fast-firing guns

Now to get into more specific variants of the C-130 that demonstrate the warbird's adaptability. That "large, unobstructed, fully-pressurized cargo hold" can also accommodate a hellacious amount of firepower that can and does rain "Death From Above" upon America's enemies.

Just what sort of firepower? Well, the latest iteration, the AC-130J "Ghostrider" (cue the 2007 movie starring Nicolas Cage; earlier editions of the gunship were nicknamed "Spooky II" and "Spectre" [not to be confused with the villainous cabal from the James Bond spy franchise]), wields the following arsenal:

• 1× 30 mm ATK GAU-23/A autocannon
• 1× 105 mm M102 howitzer
• 'Gunslinger' weapons system with launch tube for AGM-176 Griffin missiles and/or GBU-44/B Viper Strike munitions (10 round magazines)
• Wing mounted, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles (AC-130J only), GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs), and/or GBU-53/B SDB IIs (4 per hardpoint on BRU-61/A rack)

I daresay that makes the AC-130 more of a literal "flying fortress" than the famed Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of WWII (whose most powerful guns were Browning M2 "Ma Deuce" .50 caliber [12.7 mm] machine guns)!

As Greenwood Aerospace's GovernmentProcurement.Com website puts it:

"They effectively neutralize enemy threats and provide vital protection to friendly forces on the ground... Over the years, the AC-130 gunships have been deployed in numerous conflicts and operations, demonstrating their versatility and lethality in combat. From supporting troops during firefights to conducting surgical strikes against targets, these aircraft are a decisive force multiplier on the battlefield."

WC-130J: Putting a whole new meaning on "all-weather" aircraft

If the AC-130 gunship's firepower is a "force of nature" in the figurative sense, then the WC-130J variant further demonstrates the basic Hercules platform's adaptability by dealing with the forces of Mother Nature in the more literal sense.

For those of you out there who engage in storm chasing as either a thrill-seeking hobby or as a professional endeavor (I did a wee bit of the former back in the day), suffice to say that the WC-130J's intrepid crew members take the concept of storm chasing to a literally higher level. (No, "WC" doesn't stand for "water closet" in this instance.) The Official Fact Sheets of Air Force Reserve Command's (AFRC) 403rd Wing elaborates:

"This plane is a C-130J transport configured with palletized weather instrumentation for penetration of tropical disturbances and storms, hurricanes and winter storms to obtain data on movement, size and intensity. The WC-130J is the weather data collection platform for the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron... The 53rd WRS, known as the Hurricane Hunters, is responsible for hurricane reconnaissance missions in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern and central Pacific Ocean areas."

As for some of the specialized equipment on the WC-130J that enables the Hurricane Hunters to accomplish their hair-raising missions:

"In May 2007, the WC-130J was equipped with the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, a state of the art instrument which continuously measures the surface winds and rainfall rates below the aircraft. This data is critical in mapping the surface wind environment below the aircraft and provides enhanced surface wind information to the National Hurricane Center."

"Another critical piece of weather equipment on board the WC-130J is the dropsonde system. The GPS Dropsonde Windfinding System is a cylindrically-shaped instrument about 16 inches long and 3.5 inches in diameter and weighs approximately 2.5 pounds. The dropsonde is equipped with a high frequency radio. The instrument is dropped within the eye and eyewall of hurricanes and provides a direct reading of surface pressure,

"As the instrument descends to the sea surface, it measures and relays to the aircraft a vertical atmospheric profile of the temperature, humidity and barometric pressure and wind data. The dropsonde is slowed and stabilized by a small parachute. The Dropsonde System Operator receives, analyzes and encodes the data for transmission via satellite."

These weather warriors typically penetrate hurricanes at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet to collect meteorological data in the vortex, or eye, of the storm, with an average weather reconnaissance mission lasting 11 hours and covering almost 3,500 miles (5,632.7 km).

Obviously not a mission for the faint of heart, but for those with both the heart and the cast-iron stomachs to handle the Hurricane Hunter missions, the adaptability of the C-130 platform readily accommodates them. "Semper Gumby (Always Flexible)!"