Lockheed C-130H Hercules

The C-130H brought the more powerful Allison T56-A-15 (4,590 shp), a redesigned outer wing and updated avionics; later aircraft also received a fatigue-life-improved centre wing. The Royal New Zealand Air Force was the first customer, and the H entered service in 1965 by Lockheed's count. Production ran until 1996, and Lockheed delivered 1,202 C-130Hs — more than any other Hercules model.

The late-production C-130H3 (1992–1996) added ring-laser gyros, GPS, a partial glass cockpit and a more capable radar, and many H-models have since been retrofitted with eight-bladed NP2000 propellers. A stretched version, the C-130H-30, adds fuselage plugs of 2.5 m ahead of the wing and 2.0 m behind it.

The H became the standard Hercules for dozens of air forces, from New Zealand and Belgium to Jordan and Algeria, and for US Air National Guard and Reserve units. A US Navy/USMC derivative, the C-130T, served the Blue Angels as "Fat Albert", famous for its steep jet-assisted take-offs until the rocket supply ran out around 2009.