India’s first C-130J has made its maiden flight from Lockheed Martin’s assembly plant in Marietta, Ga., the company announced. Lockheed officials expect to deliver this airplane, the first of six “stretch-model” C-130J-30s being built for the Indian air force, in December. The Hercules flew roughly two hours Oct. 4, during which all of its basic systems were tested without incident, according to the company. The Indian C-130Js will be equipped with an aerial-refueling probe and a turret-mounted AAQ-22 infra-red/electro-optical surveillance and targeting suite that enables night/low-level operations. Lockheed anticipates completion and first flight of a further two Indian C-130Js within the next several weeks. (See also Snapshot of India from the Daily Report archives.)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.