Aircraft Is 27th To Enter Service With Marines

Lockheed Martin tells ANN the aerospace company recently delivered the first KC-130J Tanker to the United States Marine Corps Squadron based in Japan.

Aerial Refueling and Transport Squadron 152 (VMGR-152), Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, took delivery of its first KC-130J on Sunday, September 30. This delivery is the 27th KC-130J to be delivered to the USMC.

"The United States Marine Corps has certainly set a very high standard for operational tempo with their KC-130Js," said Ross Reynolds, vice president of C-130 programs for Lockheed Martin. "Many of the coalition operations in Southwest Asia would not be possible without the air-to-air and ground refueling missions that the KC-130Js perform day in and day out."

The USMC Air Expeditionary Force has had six KC-130Js in theater since February 2005. During this deployment the KC-130J crews have flown 8,854 sorties totaling 17,398 flight hours. In August of this year they set a deployment one month record with 318 sorties, logged 621.9 flying hours, off-loaded 127,014 pounds of cargo, transported 718 personnel, and passed 6,002,600 pounds of fuel.

The new aircraftwill join another KC-130J that was transferred to Futenma from VMGR-352, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, for training flight and maintenance personnel. VMGR-152 is scheduled to receive 12 KC-130Js in total.

FMI: www.lmco.com, www.1maw.usmc.mil/history.asp?unit='VMGR-152'