Lockheed Martin last week delivered the 150th C-130J Super Hercules it has produced to the Air Force for use by the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Islands ANGS, Calif. Brig. Gen. Darren McDew, vice commander of 18th Air Force at Scott AFB, Ill., flew the new aircraft from Lockheed’s production facility in Marietta, Ga., to the Channel Islands unit, which now has all eight of its new J model Hercules tactical airlifters. According to a Lockheed release, airmen of the 146th AW just returned from a 20-month deployment to Iraq, where four J models flew 5,444 sorties, delivering 12,681 tons of cargo and hauling 70,350 personnel.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.