Iraq's first new-generation Hercules tactical transport made its first flight from Lockheed Martin's Marietta site in Georgia in mid-August.
Announcing the milestone on 5 September, the company confirmed that "The first C-130J for Iraq is scheduled for delivery later this year." Baghdad will eventually field six of the type in the stretched-fuselage -30 configuration, with Lockheed listing planned uses as including "intra-theatre support of its troops and humanitarian relief operations".
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| Lockheed Martin |
The Iraqi air force already operates three refurbished C-130Es, which Flightglobal's MiliCAS database records as having originally been delivered to the US Air Force in 1963 and 1964.