The modernization effort updates the heavy lift aircraft's 60-year-old avionics with new flight management systems, autopilot, and digital engine instruments.
The newly all-digital C-130H cockpit sits ready for its next test flight at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The major upgrade, called Avionics Modernization Program Increment 2, is a significant improvement to the almost 60-year-old aircraft’s avionics and navigation systems. [Courtesy: U.S. Air Force]
Key Takeaways:
U.S. Air Force Reserve Command pilots are testing the "Avionics Modernization Program Increment 2," a significant digital upgrade to the C-130H's nearly 60-year-old analog navigation and avionics systems.
These upgrades replace analog gauges with six multifunctional displays, a new flight management system, autopilot, and other digital components, fundamentally modernizing the aircraft's cockpit interface.
The modernization, costing approximately $7 million per aircraft, drastically improves navigation capabilities and reduces the time required for pilots to modify flight plans from minutes to under 30 seconds.
Nearly two dozen Air Force Reserve and 54 Air National Guard C-130H aircraft are scheduled to receive these digital modernizations over the next five years.
U.S. Air Force Reserve Command pilots at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, have started testing new digital upgrades to the nearly 60-year-old C-130H’s analog navigation and avionics systems.
Gone are the three analog gauges and in their place are six new multifunctional displays that work together through the aircraft’s flight deck.
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