The name is Hercules

: Some aircraft, like the British Spitfire, American F-86 Sabre, DC-3 Dakota, Soviet MiG-21 and others, make a great deal of history and remain part of future history. The famous US-made C-130 cargo aircraft named Hercules from the Lockheed Martin stable of which nearly 2,200 aircraft have been manufactured in 40-odd variants and sold to 60 countries worldwide is clearly one of them. Six of this type in the latest version, which is now in the process of also equipping the US Air Force, would be part of the Indian Air Force inventory in the not too distant future now that the Indian and US governments have signed the Letter of Offer and Acceptance.

The deal reflects the changes in the international order over the decades since the aircraft was designed in 1950 and entered service in USAF in 1956. One US Air Force squadron briefly served in India carrying vital supplies for our army in the Himalayas after November 1962. New Delhi had tried very hard to obtain two C-130 aircraft in 1980-82 for the Department of Ocean Development to provide logistics supply to our scientific mission in Antarctica. What was needed was a big enough transport aircraft with skis to enable it to land on ice on the frozen continent. But Washington would simply not sell us the two aircraft (though it signed the MoU on transfer of sensitive technology in 1983) on the flimsy grounds that US military technology would leak to the Soviets (remember the Second Cold War had only recently begun), and that India would use the aircraft for bombing (a role it was fully capable of, if modified for it) from its cargo hold dropping 20 tons of bombs in one go! Ultimately, we used Argentine assistance for logistics.

The six aircraft IAF will get would be the ‘Super Hercules’ 130-J version, capable of 5,200-km range with nearly 20-tons of payload for around $800 million. This version is the most suitable for special operations and is specifically equipped with a range of systems for the mission in the USAF. The IAF version would no doubt include the type of systems specified by us.

To the uninitiated, the Hercules would appear an old aircraft. But the 130-J version is being manufactured for the USAF now. This also marks a clear shift in US perceptions about India. Pentagon’s request to the Congress for the sale acknowledged India as an “important force for political stability, peace and economic progress”; and the sale would “provide Indian Government with a credible special operations airlift capability that will deter aggression” in the region. This implicitly recognises the threat to stability and peace arising from transnational terrorism which may require operations by Special Forces.

The foundation of what at this point is the single largest US military sale to India goes back to the January 1995 Agreed Minutes between the ministries of defence of India and the US for increasing defence cooperation. This was raised to higher levels in June 2005 with the Agreed Framework of Defence Cooperation as part of the strategic partnership built up by the NDA government. The US is no doubt looking for the lucrative Indian military and civil aerospace market, especially since the global arms market has otherwise been stagnating for over a decade. This should suit our own future needs not merely in obtaining systems and technologies that would take a long time to develop indigenously, but to provide a boost to in-country design and development through creating industry partnerships. The offsets clause in the defence procurement procedure of the government issued in 2006 clearly requires a minimum of 30 per cent offsets in defence. And the Hercules deal would naturally include this provision. Lockheed Martin, the builder of the aircraft, would have an added incentive (and an opportunity) to ensure future partnerships (it is one of the major bidders for the $8 billion 126 multi-role combat aircraft tender) that establish military research, development and production of systems and subsystems in the defence and aerospace sector so that our self-reliance is enhanced.

We also need to be clear about the role and mission of the six aircraft we are acquiring. The range of missions under the overall rubric of Special Operations is fairly broad. It is important to remember that the aircraft would continue to be capable of undertaking routine air transport operations, and the bulk of such requirements would come in for UN Peace Keeping Operations that India routinely undertakes. The added advantage of the C-130J would be its ability to provide passive defence to the platform in hostile environment, potentially aerial refuelling of our helicopters during UN missions in remote territories, and rapid deployment capabilities. But, with its ability to place 20-tons of container supplies/vehicles with pinpoint accuracy within a football field, the most critical role that the Hercules may yet perform would be the rapid response to natural disasters, especially earthquakes and tsunami/cyclones.

The C-130J Super Hercules is about the best transport aircraft in its class. Only the UK, Australia and Denmark fly this version besides the USAF. The aircraft would fill an important gap in our capabilities complementing the heavy lift Ilushin Il-76 on one side and the lighter Antanov An-32 transport on the other, both of which are growing old; and the latter is being upgraded to provide a fresh lease of life. The IAF badly needs a 20-ton payload transport aircraft since the An-12, which filled this role, retired some years ago. We have, therefore, decided to develop a medium transport aircraft jointly with Russia which would replace the An-32 in due course. Incidentally, this would be the first transport aircraft that HAL would be designing and developing (the old HS-748 was a British design manufactured in India, and the Dornier was licence produced) giving us the requisite design and development capabilities in this field.

The writer, a retired air commodore, is director of an independent professional think-tank, the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi jasjit1934@yahoo.com

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