The Israel Air Force (IAF) has begun flight training on the Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Hercules transport aircraft in the United States, the service disclosed on 16 October.
Having already completed ground school, (including 130 simulator hours), the first pilots began flight instruction at Little Rock Air Force Base (AFB) in Arkansas the week prior to the announcement.
Israel has requested a total of nine C-130J-30s, but is currently contracted to receive four aircraft to join and eventually replace the C-130E/H transport and KC-130H platforms that have been in service since the early 1970s. Dubbed 'Shimshon' (Hebrew for Samson) by Israel, the C-130J-30s are set to be operated out of Nevitim Airbase in the south of the country.
The ceremony at the company's Marietta production facility in Georgia on 26 June marked the official handover of the first aircraft to the IAF. Deliveries to Israel will commence in 2014.
Source: http://www.janes.com/article/28488/isra ... t-training
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