Timothy J German, Director, Global Pursuits, Lockheed Martin stated that C130s have been supporting firefighting for over 50 years and throughout the final nine-year interval there have been 1,95,000 forest fires in India, primarily focussed as much as the central and northeast mountains.
“We have seen the demand for firefighting grow globally throughout the recent years. India uses bambi buckets tethered to helicopters to put out forest fires. It can transport 3,000 litres of water in this manner to the fire. Whereas when the C130 is equipped for firefighting, it can transport 11,500 litres of fire retardant, which is a game changer. It is versatile. There is a roll-on, roll-off capability to it where it can run missions in the morning and come back from firefighting. Within three hours, it will be doing airlift again,” stated German.
Modular firefighting programs put in within the plane can drop 1000’s of gallons of fireplace retardant or water in simply seconds. C-130J plane crews are capable of fly over rugged mountainous terrain at low speeds to zoom in on focused sizzling spots and drop fireplace retardant to help firefighters beneath, executives of the corporate stated.
Among different makes use of of the navy transport plane is aerial refueling, VIP help, medical evacuation, cargo supply, airdrop, arctic help, aerial spray, humanitarian support, and maritime patrol. The Indian Air Force additionally operates a fleet of 12 C-130Js, for its tactical airlift missions.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com