Editing Lockheed C-130 Hercules (section)

===Aerial firefighting===
[[File:C-130E MAFFS dropping fire retardant Simi Fire Southern California DF-SD-05-14857.jpg|thumb|A C-130E fitted with a [[MAFFS]]-1 dropping fire retardant.]]
{{Globalize section|date=November 2023|US}}

In the early 1970s, Congress authorized the [[Modular Airborne FireFighting System|Modular Airborne Firefighting System]] (MAFFS), a joint operation between the [[U.S. Forest Service]] and the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]. MAFFS is roll-on/roll-off device that allows C-130s to be temporarily converted into a 3,000-gallon [[airtanker]] for fighting [[wildfire]]s when demand exceeds the supply of privately contracted and publicly available airtankers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fs.fed.us/managing-land/fire/planes/maffs |title=Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) |website=U.S. Forest Service |date=14 July 2017 |access-date=1 November 2019}}</ref>

In the late 1980s, 22 retired USAF C-130As were removed from storage and transferred to the U.S. Forest Service, which then [[U.S. Forest Service airtanker scandal|transferred them to six private companies]] to be converted into airtankers. One of [[2002 airtanker crashes|these C-130s crashed]] in June 2002 while operating near [[Walker, California]]. The crash was attributed to wing separation caused by fatigue stress cracking and contributed to the grounding of the entire large aircraft fleet.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/about/employment/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20020621X00954&ntsbno=LAX02GA201&akey=1|title=NTSB Identification: LAX02GA201|last=Anonymous|first=Anonymous|website=National Transportation Safety Board|access-date=1 November 2019}}</ref> After an extensive review, [[United States Forest Service|US Forest Service]] and the [[Bureau of Land Management]] declined to renew the leases on nine C-130A over concerns about the age of the aircraft, which had been in service since the 1950s, and their ability to handle the forces generated by aerial firefighting.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

More recently, an updated Retardant Aerial Delivery System known as RADS XL was developed by [[Coulson Aviation]] USA. That system consists of a C-130H/Q retrofitted with an in-floor discharge system, combined with a removable 3,500- or 4,000-gallon water tank. The combined system is FAA certified.<ref>{{cite web|title=C-130H/Q Fire Fighting Air Tanker|url=http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/aero/documents/global-sustainment/product-support/2013-hoc-presentations/2013-HOC-Tuesday/Tues%201145%20Coulson%20Aviation.pdf|access-date=9 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415073023/http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/aero/documents/global-sustainment/product-support/2013-hoc-presentations/2013-HOC-Tuesday/Tues%201145%20Coulson%20Aviation.pdf|archive-date=15 April 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On [[2020 Coulson Aviation Lockheed C-130 Hercules crash|23 January 2020]], Coulson's Tanker 134, an EC-130Q registered N134CG, crashed during aerial firefighting operations in [[New South Wales]], Australia, killing all three crew members. The aircraft had taken off out of [[RAAF Base Richmond]] and was supporting firefighting operations during Australia's [[2019–20 Australian bushfire season|2019–20 fire season]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-01-23 |title=Three Americans killed as C-130 firefighting plane crashes in Australia |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-22/australian-crews-search-for-firefight-plane-feared-crashed |access-date=2024-05-27 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>