Lockheed HC-130 Hercules

The US Coast Guard was the first HC-130 customer: its R8V-1G, renamed HC-130B under the 1962 tri-service designation system, entered service in 1959. The HC-130H first flew on 8 December 1964, and on 20 February 1972 a USAF HC-130H flew 14,052.94 km without landing — a turboprop distance record that still stood decades later.

The Air Force's HC-130P Combat King, built on the C-130E airframe, added underwing refuelling pods and extra internal tanks to extend the range of combat search-and-rescue helicopters; early aircraft also carried the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system, later removed. Its replacement, the HC-130J Combat King II, first flew on 29 July 2010 and was delivered to the 563rd Rescue Group at Davis-Monthan AFB from November 2012, with up to 39 planned.

The Coast Guard's own HC-130J, derived from the KC-130J, arrived from October 2003 and was later fitted with the Minotaur mission system with radar and sensors; 22 missionised aircraft are planned to replace the HC-130H. Unlike the USAF version, the Coast Guard aircraft does not refuel helicopters in flight.