The C-130 transport, named "Hercules" from
the mythical Greek hero renowned for his great strength, first flew
seventy years ago (1954) and has been delivered to more than
sixty countries around the world, more than 2,500 C-130s have been
built, and they are flown by more than seventy nations worldwide, in
more than seventy variations.
The C-130 Technical Coordination Group (TCG) was formed in 1987 as a
USAF organization to provide a more direct line of operational and
logistical assistance to the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) users of
the C-130 Hercules aircraft. The C-130 TCG currently supports
thirty six international country partners. Combined, these
country partners are flying approximately 400+ C-130 (B, E, H, J, and
L-100) aircraft. International users make up over 70+ percent
of the worldwide fleet. The original 16 member
countries were Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Japan, Korea,
Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain,
Taiwan, Thailand, and Türkiye.
The C-130 TCG is steadily expanding as the USAF continues to retire
its fleet and the excess aircraft is purchased by international
customers. Membership levels have varied over the years, but
there has been one constant--service to our member countries. This
service can be as simple as providing an aircraft part number to as
complex as designing a country specific structural or avionics
modification. Being positioned at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia,
the staff of the C-130 TCG can not only draw from their considerate
expertise but also from access to the flying history and future
direction of the USAF fleet. The availability of such reliability,
maintainability, and support data makes this low cost investment a
winner.
As of 2024 the C-130 TCG has been operational for 37 years.
Since the inception of the C-130 TCG in 1987 we have held 34 World
Wide Reviews. Only 3 World Wide Reviews were not held due to
the World Wide Review being formed later (1987), government furlough
(2013), and
the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Our 35th World Wide Review is slated to
take place in October 2025. Please visit our
World Wide Review page for additional details on dates, location,
and registration information.