04.02.2023, 09:10
Zitat:C-130 Seaplane Program Put On Back Burner (Updated)https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/sp...ack-burner
Funding challenges and ‘reprioritization of capabilities’ has resulted in an indefinite delay of the C-130 floatplane’s test flight. [...]
The initial test flight of an amphibious MC-130J special operations transport was anticipated to take place this year, but those plans have changed. [...] Alicia Premo, a spokeswoman for Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), told The War Zone in an email Thursday after we requested a program update. “However, for a variety of reasons, at this time we do not have the capability demonstration scheduled. Those reasons vary from funding challenges to a recent reprioritization of capabilities.” Premo did not elaborate on the reasons [...].
But whatever the answer, it is yet another setback for a program that has now seen its goal line shift to the right for the second time. A flying demo was originally set to take place by the end of 2022, then-AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. James Slife said at a September 2021 media roundtable. [...]
It is unclear whether the change at the top of AFSOC is a death knell for MAC, a program design to add floats onto special operations-equipped MC-130Js to provide greater airlift flexibility, especially in the Pacific.
Schneemann