The KC-130J tanker's new configuration achieved full operational capability at the U.S. Marine Corps when the service received its 10th unit of the modified aircraft on Aug. 26.
Fleet Marine Forces now has a complete set of aircraft modified with the Harvest Hercules Airborne Weapons Kit Plus, which succeeds the old HH system and equips the KC-130J with a new electro-optical/infrared multi-sensor imaging technology, Naval Air Systems Command said Monday.
Naval Air Station Patuxent River began modifying KC-130J units in 2015 and Sierra Nevada Corp. continued this work with last four aircraft, as part of USMC's Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance / Weapons Mission Kit program.
California-based Marine Aerial Refueler Transport 352 received five aircraft equipped with HH+, and North Carolina received four. Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 will keep the single remaining aircraft for future tests.
“We are proud to provide the Marine Air-Ground Task Force with an updated intra-theater Close Air Support and Multi-Sensor Imagery Reconnaissance capability,” said Capt. Steve Nassau, PMA-207 program manager.
