Portuguese Air Force Receives Its First Modernized C-130H Military Transport Aircraft After A Long Delay
The Portuguese Air Force (PRTAF) returned to service the first of four Lockheed Martin C-130H military transport aircraft that it decided to modernize under the European Commission’s Single European Air Space (SES) Directive last week, during a ceremony at Montijo’s 6th Air Base. The delivery ceremony for the first renewed aircraft was attended by Portuguese Air Force Chief of Staff General João Cartaxo Alves, OGMA CEO Paulo Monginho, military officials and representatives from production partners.
The modernization, overseen by the Portuguese MRO company OGMA, includes a number of changes to the C-130H aircraft, which has been in service with the Portuguese Air Force for over 35 years, as well as the addition of new avionics packages such as Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) systems. In addition to OGMA, suppliers such as Collins Aerospace, Becker Avionics, and Flightcell are also participating in this program worth approximately 16 million Euros, co-financed with European funds.
According to OGMA CEO Paulo Monginho, “90,000 hours of engineering, 53,000 hours of hangar intervention, 1,000 drawings, 500 engineering reports, 17 km of wiring per aircraft and 100 hours of test flights” were carried out as part of the C-130H modernization program, which is one of the company’s largest contracts to date.
As part of the modernization program that began in 2018, OGMA originally planned to deliver C-130 aircraft to the Portuguese Air Force by 2020. However, due to some problems, particularly the Covid-19 pandemic that erupted worldwide in 2019, the program was delayed. Touching on this issue at the delivery ceremony, which was approximately three years later than planned, General João Cartaxo Alves, Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Air Force, said that it was known from the very beginning that this project would take a long time and that a lot of effort would be required to complete it. Alves emphasized that, despite all of this, this point was reached thanks to the efforts of the 501st Fleet, Maintenance and Weapon Systems Directorate, Engineering and Programs Directorate and the National Aviation Authority.
The Portuguese Air Force expects to receive the remaining three C-130 H aircraft, which are currently being refurbished, next year, unless there are any unexpected setbacks, as occurred at the start of the program. Once modernized, these aircraft will rejoin the 501st ‘Bisontes’ tactical transport squadron at Montijo air base, assisting the Portuguese Air Force in fulfilling its national and international missions in military and public interest operations, as well as maritime patrol and search and rescue.