In 2007, the transport became the fifth aircraft[N 1] to mark 50 years of continuous service with its original primary customer, which for the C-130 is the United States Air Force (USAF).

On 2 February 1951, the United States Air Force issued a General Operating Requirement (GOR) for a new transport to Boeing, Douglas, Fairchild, Lockheed, Martin, Chase Aircraft, North American, Northrop, and Airlifts Inc.

The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, which included a low-altitude parachute-extraction system for Sheridan tanks and even dropping large improvised "daisy cutter" bombs.

[13] The C-130B model was developed to complement the A-models that had previously been delivered, and incorporated new features, particularly increased fuel capacity in the form of auxiliary tanks built into the center wing section and an AC electrical system.

Essentially a B-model, the new designation was the result of the installation of 1,360 US gallons (5,100 litres) Sargent Fletcher external fuel tanks under each wing's midsection and more powerful Allison T56-A-7A turboprops.

The KC-130 tankers, originally C-130F procured for the US Marine Corps (USMC) in 1958 (under the designation GV-1) are equipped with a removable 3,600 US gallons (14,000 L) stainless steel fuel tank carried inside the cargo compartment.

An improved C-130H was introduced in 1974, with Australia purchasing 12 of the type in 1978 to replace the original 12 C-130A models, which had first entered Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) service in 1958.

The U.S. Coast Guard employs the HC-130H for long-range search and rescue, drug interdiction, illegal migrant patrols, homeland security, and logistics.

This aircraft was heavily modified, with its most prominent feature being the long red and white striped atmospheric probe on the nose and the move of the weather radar into a pod above the forward fuselage.

Early USAF versions were also equipped with the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system, designed to pull a person off the ground using a wire strung from a helium balloon.

This test aircraft set numerous short takeoff and landing performance records and significantly expanded the database for future derivatives of the C-130.

After demonstrating many new technologies, some of which were applied to the C-130J, the HTTB was lost in a fatal accident on 3 February 1993, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, in Marietta, Georgia.

[29] In 2021, the Air Force Research Laboratory demonstrated the Rapid Dragon system which transforms the C-130 into a lethal strike platform capable of launching 12 JASSM-ER with 500 kg warheads from a standoff distance of 925 km (575 mi).

A 23% scale model went through wind tunnel tests to demonstrate its hybrid powered lift, which combined a low drag airframe with simple mechanical assembly to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics.

The pilot, Lieutenant (later Rear Admiral) James H. Flatley III, USN, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in this test series.

[43] The Hercules used in the test, most recently in service with Marine Aerial Refueler Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) until 2005, is now part of the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Florida.

[44] In November 1964, on the other side of the globe, C-130Es from the 464th Troop Carrier Wing but loaned to 322d Air Division in France, took part in Operation Dragon Rouge, one of the most dramatic missions in history in the former Belgian Congo.

These improvised bombers were used to hit Indian targets such as bridges, heavy artillery positions, tank formations, and troop concentrations, though weren't that successful .

[48][49][50] In October 1968, a C-130Bs from the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing dropped a pair of M-121 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) bombs that had been developed for the massive Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber but had never been used.

The U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force resurrected the huge weapons as a means of clearing landing zones for helicopters and in early 1969 the 463rd commenced Commando Vault missions.

Flying for six and a half hours at low altitude in the dark, they arrived over the target and the sensor pallets were dropped by parachute near Anxi in Gansu province.

The rescue force—200 soldiers, jeeps, and a black Mercedes-Benz (intended to resemble Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin's vehicle of state)—was flown over 2,200 nmi (4,074 km; 2,532 mi) almost entirely at an altitude of less than 100 ft (30 m) from Israel to Entebbe by four Israeli Air Force (IAF) Hercules aircraft without mid-air refueling (on the way back, the aircraft refueled in Nairobi, Kenya).

From 22 to 24 October 1997, two AC-130U gunships flew 36 hours nonstop from Hurlburt Field, Florida to Daegu International Airport, South Korea, being refueled seven times by KC-135 tanker aircraft.

Some variants had forward looking infrared (FLIR Systems Star Safire III EO/IR) sensor balls, to enable close tracking of militants.

The Deepwater Horizon mission was the first time the US used the oil dispersing capability of the 910th Airlift Wing—its only large area, fixed-wing aerial spray program—in an actual spill of national significance.

[68] C-130s temporarily based at Kelly Field conducted mosquito control aerial spray applications over areas of eastern Texas devastated by Hurricane Harvey.

This special mission treated more than 2.3 million acres at the direction of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to assist in recovery efforts by helping contain the significant increase in pest insects caused by large amounts of standing, stagnant water.

The 910th Airlift Wing operates the Department of Defense's only aerial spray capability to control pest insect populations, eliminate undesired and invasive vegetation, and disperse oil spills in large bodies of water.

[70] In the early 1970s, Congress authorized the Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS), a joint operation between the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Defense.

[73] On 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.