Lockheed C-130J Contract

The Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a contract that can reach $1.9 billion to keep C-130J crews and maintainers trained over the next decade. (lockheedmartin.com) Lockheed Martin said the award, announced April 14, is a 10-year, sole-source indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract, which means the government can place orders up to a ceiling rather than spend the full amount at once. The customer is the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. (lockheedmartin.com) The work covers the C-130J Maintenance and Aircrew Training System, or MATS IV, including training devices, courseware, operations, contractor logistics support and engineering services for C-130J aircrews and maintainers. Lockheed Martin said the program continues support for both flying crews and the mechanics who keep the aircraft mission-ready. (lockheedmartin.com) The C-130J is the newest version of the Hercules military transport, a workhorse used for hauling troops and cargo, medical evacuation and special operations support. Training contracts like this one pay for the simulators, lesson materials and support staff that let crews practice emergencies on the ground instead of in the air. (lockheedmartin.com 1) (lockheedmartin.com 2) That training pipeline runs through Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, where the Air Force’s C-130J Formal Training Unit teaches aircrew and maintenance personnel. The 314th Airlift Wing says it trains C-130J aircrew members from the Defense Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and 47 allied nations. (littlerock.af.mil 1) (littlerock.af.mil 2) Lockheed Martin says the MATS program dates to its first contract award in 2000, and the company described the new award as a continuation of a nearly 30-year C-130J training franchise. An earlier company release said Little Rock would serve as the formal C-130J training unit, with Keesler Air Force Base handling continuation training. (lockheedmartin.com 1) (lockheedmartin.com 2) The training system has also expanded with newer simulators. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center said in 2021 that a reconfigurable device at Little Rock could switch cockpit layouts to represent two different C-130J variants in one simulator. (aflcmc.af.mil) The contract does not buy new aircraft. It funds the less visible part of readiness: keeping instructors, simulators, lesson updates and support systems in place so C-130J units can qualify new crews and keep experienced ones current. (lockheedmartin.com)