Very interesting considering the issues that the C-130J is facing in current military service.
From Inside the Navy, Vol. 18, No. 12, March 28, 2005
Aircraft dubbed 'Sea Herk'
LOCKHEED PITCHES SEA-BASED C-130J FLYING FROM NOTIONAL BIG-DECK SHIP
Lockheed Martin is arguing its C-130J heavy-lift cargo jet, which the Pentagon has targeted for cancelation next year, could help enable seabasing by operating from notional big-deck ships.
The Navy previously examined the idea of operating C-130s from ships when it flew an earlier C-130 model from the Forrestal (CVA-59) aircraft carrier in 1963. But today the U.S. military operates C-130s from land bases.
Jack O'Banion, Lockheed's director of tactical mobility requirements, said C-130Js could operate from today's Nimitz-class carriers, but the flight deck would have to be cleared and no other flight operations could take place. A new "rapid resupply ship" with a 1,200-foot-long flight deck would be needed to accommodate the aircraft for seabasing missions, he told reporters March 21.
Rapid resupply ships would be in addition to the Maritime Prepositioning Force Future ship the Navy is developing for seabasing, the concept of staging and supporting land warfare from ships, he said. While the MPF(F) has not been fully defined yet, naval officials have described it having a flight deck for vertical-landing aircraft.
In addition to landing C-130Js -- which Lockheed has dubbed "Sea Herk" for this concept -- the notional rapid resupply ship would have selective offload capabilities for at-sea arrival and assembly, he said.
"The intent is those [ships] would handle both surface resupply as well as air," O'Banion said. "So essentially they're set up to operate as a logistics hub at sea that happen to have a flat roof on top."
The resupply ship would be based on commercial-ship designs, meaning it would not have the same standards as an aircraft carrier and would be less expensive, he noted. But the challenge is using a design that is compatible with shipyards' capabilities, he said. A number of hulls are under consideration for the resupply ship, including a trimaran, he added.
Lockheed's idea comes as Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics have circulated seabasing concepts that include variants of ships that they build. Lockheed's Sea Herk proposal also follows the release of the fiscal year 2006 defense budget that would cancel future purchases of Air Force C-130Js and Marine Corps KC-130Js. In the event of a cancellation, the costs of restarting the production line to build Sea Herks would be less than the development costs of a brand new heavy-lift aircraft, O'Banion noted.
The Navy office in charge of logistics (N4) asked Lockheed in November 2003 to perform an initial assessment of whether it would be possible to fly C-130Js on a ship with a 1,200-foot deck, wind over the deck at 25 knots, and space for at least four C-130Js, he said. The logistics staff also asked Naval Air Systems Command to do a similar study in 2002, he added. The company's idea is a candidate among other possibilities, but the message Lockheed is telling the Navy is to consider the cost of air and surface connectors as well as the cost of ships when totaling the price tag for seabasing, he explained.
"The key thing that we're wanting to point out is to not design the ship in a vacuum but to keep in mind that there is a total system of systems costs to be considered," O'Banion said.
Under Lockheed's idea, the C-130J could fly troops and supplies between an advanced base and the sea base, which could be 2,000 nautical miles away. The aircraft could also be used as a tanker, providing in-flight refueling to fighters flying close air support or V-22s and CH-53Es delivering forces to shore. For objectives deep inland, the company maintains the C-130J would be better suited for transporting forces than the V-22 and CH-53E, with various options for dropping off the cargo. A KC-130J tanker could land and refuel ground vehicles, O'Banion said. -- Jason Ma
