Lockheed HC-130

The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range search and rescue and combat search and rescue version of the C-130 Hercules military transport, flown in two different versions by two separate services of the United States armed forces. The Coast Guard operates the HC-130J Super Hercules for search and rescue and maritime reconnaissance, while the Air Force flies the HC-130P Combat King and HC-130J Combat King II for long-range rescue, on-scene command and control, parachuting rescue forces and refuelling helicopters in flight. The Coast Guard was the first customer, ordering the type in 1958 as the R8V-1G before the 1962 tri-service system renamed it HC-130B. The HC-130H first flew on 8 December 1964. In 2015 it was announced that some retiring Coast Guard HC-130H aircraft would go to the Forest Service as aerial fire retardant tankers.