This article was originally published in the January 2023 issue of "Weapons" magazine, and was reprinted with the second content improvement, editing, and supplementing some illustrations to share with friends. Personally, I think that "Weapons" is a professional and objective military magazine, and it is recommended to subscribe continuously to enrich one's military and political knowledge. Although most of the articles that are digitally saved and reprinted at home magazines are older, they are enough to provide ordinary netizens with professional military knowledge, and second, they want readers to examine things and opinions from a more unique perspective.
The new generation of C-130J is at the peak of deliveries, and the current development of its amphibious version will help reduce costs.
Rendering of the MC-130J installation pontoon
The head of the U.S. Special Operations Command said in October 2022 that the amphibious version of the MC-130J "Commando 2" special transport aircraft ordered by the ministry will fly in 2023.
At a recent meeting of the United States Air Force and Space Force Association, Lt. Gen. Slim, the United States Air Force for related affairs, said, "We are waiting for good news from the fiscal year 2023 budget process." We've done all the modeling and simulation. The United States Air Force has determined a general design for a water transport aircraft, and we intend to purchase its actual aircraft. He believes that the C-130 on the water is a foregone conclusion.
The C-130J "Commando" transport aircraft in flight, the C-130 amphibious version will be developed on this model.
According to Defense News in United States, Slim said in a roundtable with the media in September 2021: "I can safely say that our plan is to have a test flight by December 31, 2022." "It is reported that this test flight is likely to be carried out by a single aircraft, and once progress is made, the amphibious aircraft transformation of multiple types of US military aircraft in service will begin.
The U.S. military has a long history of amphibious transformation of transport aircraft, and the picture shows the amphibious C-47 transport aircraft in the era of World War II.
Project Details:
In the view of United States media, due to the current shift of the strategic center of United States to the Asia-Pacific region, the US Special Operations Command is increasingly in need of rapid deployment of diversified means of special operations personnel in coastal areas. Transporting personnel and equipment to disputed areas or to the edge of such areas facilitates the deployment of U.S. forces in the early stages of an intervention. Large transport aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water are suitable for this need.
At present, from the perspective of aircraft type, the MC-130, which has been in service for many years, is the most suitable for transformation into an amphibious aircraft. Because the aircraft itself can use the runway on the airstrip to achieve short take-off and landing, and its equipment is relatively huge, which is conducive to replenishment in wartime.
The MC-130J is the most advanced special operations aircraft available
The MC-130J is often tasked with combat missions such as maritime infiltration
The deployment of new special transport aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region has been favored by the US military top brass, and the "2030 Concept" force structure reform plan proposed by the current United States Marine Corps Commander David · Berger is based on the deployment of conventional weapons in all countries in the Asia-Pacific region today. In September 2022, United States Air Force Gen. Kenneth · Wilsbach, a former pilot in the transport unit, also spoke about the tactical value of pre-positioning supplies in the Asia-Pacific frontier to deal with the hypothetical enemy of United States cutting off supply lines.
If the C-130 tactical transport aircraft are allowed to take off and land on the water through modification, it may be possible to simply solve the US military's concerns about the loss of forward supply bases in the Asia-Pacific region in wartime. The MC-130J transport aircraft without pontoons has evolved over decades. For almost a decade, the US military has also invested a lot of money in integrating unique navigation, communications and anti-missile self-defense equipment into the ancient "Hercules". Therefore, although the use of C-130 to modify the water transport aircraft seems to be a "new use of the old machine" trade-off, so that the modified "water Hercules" and the genuine MC-130 special transport aircraft will also be significantly different in use, but the tactical value of the water transport aircraft has become more and more critical.
After the "Hercules" transport plane completes its amphibious transformation, it will provide support for the US military's operations on islands and reefs.
It is reported that the official name of the "Water Hercules" may be MC-130J "Commando 2 Amphibious Type", or simply MAC. The United States Air Force's Special Operations Division released this ridiculous-looking water transport aircraft scheme to the media in September 2021. At that time, Special Operations Command was working with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Strategic Development Planning and Experiment Directorate to develop the MAC.
"The development of the MAC platform is the result of a multifaceted effort." Lt. Col. Duanham, deputy director for science, systems, technology and innovation at the United States Air Force Special Operations Command, said. "This capability will enable the United States Air Force to increase its personnel deployment capabilities during infiltration operations, significantly reduce troop deployment time, and provide robust logistical capabilities for future competition and conflict."
The lieutenant colonel also said that the United States Air Force will probably not be the only beneficiary of such capabilities. "We are confident that MAC will be able to be used by our sister services, allies and partners on a variety of C-130 platforms. The commissioning of amphibious aircraft and their supporting special equipment will force our competitors to purchase blindly similar equipment and consume their military spending. ”
Russia's Be-200 seajet, which has suspended militarized development.
Accelerate R&D
The development of a detachable amphibious pontoon for the MC-130J will make it possible to "completely independent of the runroad" on the C-130, but this research will delve into the complex field of amphibious aircraft development. In the past, this field was difficult because it straddled the two disciplines of "ship and aircraft". In an effort to revolutionize R&D, in addition to wave pool testing, United States Air Force Special Command is working with the private sector to test MAC prototypes in a virtual environment called a digital proving ground through "digital design, virtual reality modeling, and computer-aided design." This project also provides a reference for the new era of digital simulation, testing and advanced manufacturing technology rapid prototyping and physical prototype testing of the United States Air Force in the field of equipment research and development.
The United States Air Force did not think of using new technology for the C-130 amphibious design at the beginning, and around 2020, the United States Air Force also said that it was trying to use similar low-speed models for amphibious aircraft concept testing.
According to Signal magazine, Lieutenant General Sleif had expressed concerns about the United States Air Force's choice of C-130 pontoon design on earlier occasions. According to some sources, the United States Air Force has not yet determined whether to use large pontoons or the design of the hull C-130 fuselage to achieve water take-off and landing. It is well known that underwing pontoons, or buoys attached under the fuselage, are the simplest in technology, but they can significantly slow down the flight performance of the aircraft. The hull design is tantamount to designing a large amphibious aircraft from scratch.
Loma envisioned the C-130 seaplane with a fuselage
Sleif has also stated that "the amphibious capability of the C-130 should be field-mountable." It will take a little time. It doesn't have to go to the warehouse to install it. Unit-level maintenance will be able to install this feature. The implication is that the U.S. military still hopes that these planes can be changed back to traditional transport aircraft if necessary. This is also related to the transfer requirements of the aircraft, since if non-detachable pontoons are used, the aircraft can only be made in the coastal zone, flying along the transfer where there is water.
The decision not to purchase new amphibious aircraft was confirmed earlier by Lieutenant General Slim. "If we had unlimited resources, the United States Air Force would definitely invest in building amphibious capabilities for equipment," Slef said. "But we don't actually buy new models like this. Current military spending conditions mean that the U.S. military may sometimes need to acquire amphibious aircraft on a lease basis. ”
"Opponent" models
Of course, the United States Air Force's "interest" in amphibious aircraft is indeed not small, and earlier in 2022, US military pilots visited the Shinmei and US-2 large amphibious aircraft equipped by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force during the "Beidou" exercise in the Asia-Pacific region. In November 2021, a delegation from the United States Air Force also visited the Naval Air Force stationed at the Iwakuni base in Japan to learn more about amphibious aircraft and their combat concepts. At that time, personnel of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force briefed Major General Eric Hill, deputy commander of the Special Operations Command of the United States Air Force and commander of the 353rd Special Operations Wing, Major General Eric · Hill. The exchange was described as "a further strengthening of the partnership between the United States and Japan."
United States Air Force personnel visit the US-2 in Japan, which shows that the cockpit equipment of the aircraft is relatively simple.
Unlike China, which has just rolled off the assembly line to test the AG600, Japan has never interrupted the development and application of large military amphibious aircraft for nearly a century. The Xinming and US-2 large amphibious search and rescue aircraft currently equipped by the sea are typical models. The predecessor of Shinmeiwa was the Kawanishi Company, which supplied large amphibious aircraft to the Japan Navy during World War II. After the end of World War II, the company's amphibious aircraft business unit supplied the Maritime Self-Defense Force with the PS-1 and the US-2 two-engine four-engine large amphibious search and rescue patrol aircraft in service.
US-2 is a large water search and rescue aircraft produced by Japan's Shinmeiwa Company, which has excellent water take-off and landing performance.
The development of the US-2 began in 1991, and the aircraft was a search and rescue version of the PS-1 large amphibious anti-submarine aircraft. At that time, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force decided to fully undertake anti-submarine and anti-ship reconnaissance missions with the P-3 anti-submarine aircraft, so the PS-1 only purchased its search and rescue modification after exhausting its fuselage life. The aircraft has a total length of 33 meters and a maximum surface take-off weight of 43 tons. It is powered by four 3,450 kW Rolls-Royce AE2100 commercial turboprop engines with a crew of 11 to 12 people. The US-2 reached a range of 4,700 meters, and the ceiling was 6,100 meters. Judging from the information released by Haizi, the aircraft has a pressurized cockpit, and the level of avionics technology is relatively luxurious.
There are two main reasons for the continued equipping of the sea with this type of aircraft. The first is that the sea is responsible for the military and civilian air transport of the Ogasawara Islands and Minami-Torishima, and these outlying islands generally lack regular airports. On the other hand, Japan is trying to keep the "incense" of large seaplane design in response to the world's civil aviation pattern after the opening of the Arctic shipping lane.
As one of the few large amphibious aircraft in the world that rolls off the assembly line in the 21st century, the US-2 has few competitors. Since Grumman and Martin in United States have withdrawn from the field of military large amphibious aircraft design, in addition to Xinminghe, only Russia's Beryev Group, Canada's Bombardier and China's AVIC General have the ability to design and manufacture such aircraft.
In contrast, in China's latest five-year plan, the AG600 has been included in the "key plan" for general aviation development. Therefore, in addition to military prospects, AG600 has great potential as an emergency rescue aircraft, as a civil airlift, and law enforcement aircraft. According to United States Business Insider, the "sideways" of the AG600 has also raised business expectations for the export of amphibious aircraft from Japan's Shinmeiwa Company. The US military's recent attention to the aircraft is a reflection of this market behavior.
The AG600 was developed by Aviation Industry Corporation of China, rolled off the assembly line in Zhuhai on July 23, 2016, and successfully made its maiden flight on December 24, 2017.
In order to "stay on and not leave"
As the United States military becomes more concerned about the implementation of distributed combat doctrines, the amphibious C-130 program is likely to become more prioritized in procurement decisions. If things go according to plan, it is highly likely that the outside world will see the appearance of a C-130 amphibious aircraft in 2023.
The C-130J is an extremely versatile aircraft, having taken off and landed in rugged fields, in the Arctic, and even on aircraft carriers since its inception. But in the eyes of Lockheed, it is not yet a perfect tactical transport aircraft. Because "Hercules" is not yet able to land on the surface of the water, which covers about 71% of the Earth's area. As United States' national strategic goals shift the focus to coastal areas, the United States Air Force Special Operations Command will further accelerate the development and procurement of amphibious aircraft by expanding the runway independence and expeditionary capabilities of multi-mission platforms.
The C-130J family of tactical transport aircraft can be flexibly converted into tankers or gunboats as needed
Modern avionics is the reason why the C-130J continues to be favored by the U.S. military
And they are targeting nothing more than three sea areas, the first is around China, the second is along the Arctic shipping lanes, and the third is the area south of the Gulf of Mexico, including Puerto Rico and Cuba, which shows United States' attempts to further "rely on it" and then export military influence in these areas.
The C-130, which transports near-shore combat equipment, is an important threat to the coastal defense of other countries