The Indian Air Force (IAF) will acquire one more Lockheed Martin C 130J Super Hercules airlifter to replace the crashed one in March 2014.
IAF chief Arup Raha said the replacement aircraft is being ordered to maintain the envisaged airlift capability. Indian C-130Js are primarily modified for special operations.
The IAF's current C-130J fleet is down to five, following the crash. Six more C-130Js has been ordered and is expected to arrive by 2016. The fleet will be deployed in eastern region bordering China to bolster the new army battalion being raised.
The March crash occurred during a tactical training exercise in which the second of the two-aircraft formation, stalled at a low altitude after hitting the wake of the lead aircraft. The formation was practising low level insertion of paratroopers.
The crash is judged to be a pilot error, resulting from the failure to adopt a flight path to avoid the massive wake generated by the four engines of the lead C-130J.
Traditionlly a Russian ally, India has recently bolstered its strategic airlift capability with two U.S. aircraft-the Boeing C-17 heavy lifter and C-130J. The C-17 will be bracketed by Ilyushin IL-76, followed by C-130J and on the lower end by twin-engine Antonov AN-32 turboprops.
IAF is attracted to the C-130J’s ability to land and take off even in improvised or short airfields and without landing lights, enabling swift and stealthy operations. More over the aircraft performed well during the flood relief operations in Uttarakhand.
