MARIETTA: As India prepares to procure up to 80 military transport planes, US aerospace major Lockheed Martin has pitched its C-130J Super Hercules as the best choice and said an additional fleet of the aircraft will provide it a "stronger" heft for tactical airlift among the Quad nations.

If Lockheed Martin gets the opportunity, then it will set up a mega hub in India to produce the "iconic" aircraft and it will be the first such global facility outside of the US, top officials of the company told PTI.

To date, Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 560 aircraft from the C-130J Super Hercules family, which have accumulated more than three million flight hours. The leading tactical airlift has been serving 28 operators in 23 nations.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) currently operates 12 C-130Js.

Alongside the standard transport variant, Lockheed Martin offers multiple specialised configurations of the C-130J which enable the aircraft to perform intelligence, electronic warfare, special forces support, search and rescue and command roles.

Besides India, the three other Quad member nations -- the US, Australia and Japan -- have been operating C-130Js.

"The C-130J Super Hercules offers superior performance and capabilities for every theatre of operations. This aircraft will be the best option for India," Patricia Trish Pagan, Vice President, Air Mobility and Maritime Missions at Lockheed Martin, said.

In 2022, the IAF issued a Request for Information (RFI) to purchase medium transport aircraft (MTA) to replace its ageing fleet of Soviet-era AN-32 and IL-76 planes.

The IAF plans to procure around 80 military transport aircraft and the multi-billion dollar procurement is likely to be cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council in the next few weeks.

Brazilian plane maker Embraer's KC-390 Millennium aircraft and Airbus Defence and Space's A-400M plane are also in the race for the MTA programme.

The US defence major has partnered with Tata Advanced Systems to bid for the C-130J Super Hercules programme.

Currently, Lockheed Martin is in the process of incorporating new innovations into the C-130Js, including Distributed Aperture System (DAS) that is a key component onboard the F-35 Lightning combat jets.

The DAS is a spherical sensor suite with six infrared cameras providing rigorous situational awareness, missile warning, and night vision for pilots.

Roderick McLean, Vice President, Sustainment Operations at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics said the MTA programme can impart a "new strategic value" to India-US partnership as it will allow both sides to strengthen defence industrial base.

McLean also asserted that there is no tactical airlift plane in history that matches the relevance and versatility of the C-130Js as it benefitted from over 70 years of innovation and new features like artificial intelligence are being incorporated.

"We are doing a lot on connectivity to be able to connect systems from seabed up to space. We are looking at all of the connectivity systems that we have and how do we bring those systems into the C-130Js and how do we make them available to meet the needs of the IAF and others around the world," he said.

"The value the C-130Js provide is not only what it does today, but it is what it will be able to do in the future through continuous innovation and also allow the IAF to partner with Lockheed Martin to leverage the strength of the company," he added.

McLean said the MTA programme will be a very major opportunity for future growth of the C-130J fleet. "It represents the largest international opportunity for C-130s in its 70 years history."

Robert Toth, the vice president, business development, air mobility and maritime missions at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics said the C130Js are a "symbol of hope" around the world and that it will be the right choice for India's MTA programme.

"It (the aircraft) really is something that when you see it you know that something good is coming out of it."

He said the C-130J Super Hercules has a proven track record as the IAF has been operating it for a variety of missions for the last several years.

"The IAF understands what it takes to support, maintain and operate the airplane. It is not going to be an experiment starting out with something new. It is a proven, durable platform that they can operate with absolute confidence," he said.

Tot described as very significant Lockheed Martin's plan to establish the first major production hub outside of the Marietta facility in India for the aircraft.

"Out of the over 2,700 C-130s that have been built, only the first two prototype airplanes were built outside of Marietta. They were built in Burbank, California," he said.

Toth said the proposed hub for manufacturing of the aircraft will also open doors for its possible exports to various other markets.

"I think what you will see though is that there is further opportunity to have exports that will come back to the United States and potentially to all of our other operators around the world," he said.

Toth argued that India procuring an additional fleet of C-130J Super Hercules will provide it an edge in the Quad, adding the aircraft has been a "centrepiece" of the air forces of the grouping's member nations.

Australia is in the process of currently replacing their original fleet of C-130Js with brand new C-130Js. Japan is also planning to do the same.

"The US inventory of C-130Js continues to grow. And we believe that India possessing more C-130Js through the India MTA programme gives it a stronger position for airlift within the Quad," Toth said.

He also said that Lockheed Martin will be able to deliver the planes to India much faster than any of its competitors.

"We are building between 20 and 24 airplanes a year here in Marietta, Recently, we produced as many as 36 airplanes a year here. And in some years we've produced even more than that."

Toth said the company has the ability to increase the production rate to meet any global demand.

"I believe we can meet the demand for India's initial airplanes faster than any of our competitors because of the production line we have out here today," he said.

"I think we have the surge capacity to produce additional airplanes for India and with the production line that's going to be established in India produces surge capacity," he said.

Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems have been jointly manufacturing C-130J empennages and other aerostructure assemblies in India for the last several years.

Produced at Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (TLMAL) in Hyderabad, the C-130J tail or empennage is shipped to the US for integration into C-‘130J aircraft built in Marietta.

Recently, TLMAL celebrated the delivery of its 250th C-130J tail.

The defence MRO facility will join the existing global network of Lockheed Martin Certified Service Centres and will be strategically located to service the C-130J Super Hercules, KC-130J and C-130 B-H legacy aircraft in the future.