The Colombian Air Force received 2 C-130 Hercules donated by the United States

On August 3, the Colombian Air Force (FAC) received the last 2 units of the 3 C-130H Hercules transport aircraft decommissioned and donated by the US Air Force. The first of the donated Hercules had arrived at their new home on October 6, 2020.

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As a result of a bilateral agreement between Colombia and the US signed in 2018, the 3 aircraft were acquired by the FAC from the surpluses of the USAF, under the Defense Surplus Items Sales Program (EDA), for about 30 million dollars.

These aircraft are equipped with defensive systems -chaff and flare countermeasure dispensers-, becoming the first Colombian Hercules with this capacity.

The new Hercules, who arrived yesterday at the Air Transport Command (CATAM), based in Bogotá, will receive registration numbers FAC1017 and FAC1018, completing the list with the FAC1016 that arrived in Colombia last year.

Acaban de llegar dos grandes sorpresas para Colombia. Pronto sabrán de qué se trata… pic.twitter.com/agqa93AWC8

— Diego Molano Aponte (@Diego_Molano) August 3, 2021

From there the C-130H will go to the Air Maintenance Command (CAMAN) where they will be carried out major scheduled maintenance work (Programmed Depot Maintenance –

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The Hercules PDM includes:
Disassembly of the entire structure: due to great structural stress during its operation in all types of airports and missions, complete disassembly of the structure is carried out, including the wings, the vertical and horizontal stabilizer, the engines, the landing gear, until leaving only the fuselage.

Inspection of major integrity: removal of previous components, tuning of new systems, repair of hydraulic lines, maintenance and sealing of tanks, reverse engineering and manufacture of fittings, installation of new plans.

Cabin modernization: replacement of all analog instruments with liquid crystal EFIS displays and modernization of communication and navigation equipment, which reduces the failure rate, due to its high reliability.

System test: inspection of the functional, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical radio and navigation and communications systems, in order to verify that they are all working correctly.

Compliance with bulletins: the CIAC has the facilities, banks, specialized equipment and qualified, certified and highly experienced personnel for the execution of the manufacturer’s maintenance program, SD, AD, TCTO, ETC.

NDT inspections: visual inspections and non-destructive tests are performed on critical components of the aircraft structure as well as inspections recommended by the manufacturer through TCTO.

These activities, including “non-routine” and unforeseen work, will last approximately seven months. After this profound rejuvenation, the new C-130Hs will replace the much older C-130Bs, also acquired second-hand by the FAC, decades ago.