First C-130J Lands as YARS’ Future Takes Off

VIENNA, Ohio – Guests received the first glimpse of the Youngstown Air Reserve Station’s future Tuesday as a large, sleek C-130J-30 eased to a perfect landing and taxied into position before a crowd of more than 300.

The aircraft rolled out of Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Ga., plant just hours earlier and began its maiden flight to YARS. The C-130J is the first of eight new planes that will be part of the 910th Airlift Wing stationed here.

“It’s got three hours on it,” said Col. Mike Maloney, commander of the 910th. “It smells like a new car.”

Named the “Super Hercules,” the C-130J-30 will replace the aging C-130H aircraft now at the base, ensuring future missions for the unit. The C-130H has been in use at the air base for approximately 30 years.

Maloney said among the major differences between the two models is the technological advances found in the C-130J-30. “All the flight data the pilots need is on a heads-up display, not heads down, when they had to look at what we used to call steam gauges,” he said. “They’ve been replaced by glass avionics. It’s the most modern technology that an airlifter can possess.”

The computing power of the new airplane is improved, while the craft has better global positioning systems for satellites, he added.

“Most importantly, it’s longer,” Maloney said. “It has two extra cargo positions, so it can carry more.”  Flying the new craft also takes fewer personnel, while the plane is faster and more fuel efficient.

Maloney said the seven additional airplanes would be introduced over the next two years. All eight should be on the base by the middle of 2026, he said. “The next one is slated to arrive this fall, and then they’ll trickle in about once a quarter.”

The new fleet of C-130Js are manufactured at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Marietta, he said.

The arrival of the first C-130J-30 marks an important milestone for the air base – one that began more than a decade ago, officials said during a ceremony at the base hangar in commemoration of the event.

“Portman and I worked on this for 12 or 13 years,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said. The senator was referring to former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who helped lay the groundwork to secure funding for the new aircraft. Portman elected not to run for re-election in 2022, and his seat was filled by J.D. Vance, now the vice presidential selection of Donald Trump, the GOP’s nominee for president in 2024.

“We worked together, and I continued to work with Sen. Vance,” he said.  Brown also credited former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, then representing the Mahoning Valley, for helping to secure support for the new aircraft in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also said his office worked with former U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, then a Republican representing the 6th District, and Republican David Joyce, who represents this section of Trumbull County in Congress today.

In December 2022, the announcement came that YARS was designated as the “preferred location” for the new aircraft. Ryan, then a member of the House’s Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations, inserted approximately $800 million in funding for the aircraft into the fiscal 2020, fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 Defense appropriations bills.

Brown also acknowledged the important work of the Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Commission and others who helped bring this project to fruition.

“We know how important YARS is to the Mahoning Valley,” Brown said. “This wouldn’t be possible without YARS’ leadership and the service members here.”

Maj. Gen. Melissa Coburn, commander of the 22nd Air Force at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., whose family is from the Mahoning Valley, flew the new aircraft in Tuesday.  

“My family is originally from this area,” she said. “I’m very proud to bring the C-130J to Youngstown today.”

She called the C-130J an “amazing” airplane. “The J model increases our capabilities not only within the 22nd Air Force, but throughout the entire Air Force, and the Air Force Reserve plays a critical role across the Department of Defense.”

The 910th Airlift Wing’s use of C-130 aircraft began in 1981 with the arrival of its fleet of C-130Bs, converting the unit from the 910th Tactical Fighter Group to the 910th Tactical Airlift Group. The airlift legacy continued in 1994 as the unit converted to C-130H Hercules aircraft.

The 910th Airlift Wing has used its fleet of C-130H Hercules aircraft to perform tactical airlift missions and aerial spray operations around the United States and abroad. It is the only squadron that is used for aerial spray missions to combat disease-spreading insects after a major natural disaster and environmental disasters such as oil spills.

Compared with older C-130s, the J model climbs faster and higher, flies farther at a higher cruise speed and takes off and lands in a shorter distance. The C-130J-30 is a stretch version, adding 15 feet to the fuselage, increasing usable space in the cargo compartment. Compared with the earlier C-130s, the J model can accommodate 128 troops, as opposed to 90 previously, 94 paratroopers versus 64, and hold eight pallets instead of six.

Bill “Shaggy” Andrews, vice president of program management at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said the company’s plant in Marietta, Ga., has produced the C-130-style aircraft for 70 years. “Your new fleet of C-130Js will provide more space, power, range and versatility for years to come,” he told the large audience.

Moreover, the new aircraft preserves a major economic asset to the entire Mahoning Valley, added Josh Prest, executive director of the Military Affairs Commission.

“This represents a nearly $1 billion influx into our local economy, adding on to the fact that this air base remains the second-largest employer in the area” he said, to loud applause.

Pictured at top: Maj. Gen. Melissa Coburn.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.