Lockheed Martin announced Monday that Oman has signed a contract for the purchase of two additional C-130J transports. Oman ordered its first C-130J in July 2009; that airframe is scheduled for delivery in 2012. Lockheed expects to deliver the two additional aircraft in late 2013 and early 2014. “The C-130J is ideally suited to the operating conditions found in Oman and other areas of the Gulf,” said Jim Grant, Lockheed’s vice president for air mobility and special operations forces programs. While Oman’s first C-130J is in the so-called “stretch” or long-fuselage configuration, the two in the follow-on order are the shorter fuselage variant. Oman already operates three C-130Hs purchased in the early 1980s.
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.