South African Air Force airshow at Ysterplaat AFB, Cape Town photographed back in 1969. The Lockheed Hercules C-130B shown here was operated by 28 Squadron SAAF.
The public were allowed inside the aircraft. Notice the four military personnel on top of the ‘Hercules’.
C130’s in SAAF service
The SAAF C-130 fleet consists of seven platforms (401 – 407) purchased in 1963 before a US arms embargo was imposed on South Africa’s apartheid government.
Five additional aircraft were received in 1997/8 from the US as part of their Excess Defence Articles programme.
Two were ex-USAF C-130B’s (408 and 409) and three ex-USN C-130F’s (410 – 412)
The two ex-US C-130B’s and one C-130F (411) were subsequently put in service, but the C-130F was retired soon thereafter. The other two C130F’s were kept as backup aircraft and as spares aircraft as they were not compatible to the rest of the SAAF fleet.
Various modifications have been accomplished on the original SAAF aircraft, the most significant being:
- Centre wing replacement and outer wing refurbishment from 1969 to 1972 done under the auspices of Lockheed Martin.
- Engine upgrade from Allison T56-A-7 to T56-A-15 during the early 1970’s.
- Basic avionic upgrade during the early 1980’s.
- Total avionic upgrade under Project Ebb from the late 1990’s.
The nine-strong fleet underwent a major refit from December 1996.
Crash
In January 2020, a C-130BZ (403) of the SAAF crash landed at Goma airport in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Subsequently the aircraft was written off, salvaged for spares and then scrapped.
