Four retired US Marine Corps KC-130R tankers are being restored at Hill AFB, Utah, and readied for a return to service with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, or JMSDF. Under a Foreign Military Sales program run by the US Navy, the aircraft will receive new landing gear supports, cargo door supports, and center wing rainbow fittings and structural corrosion will be repaired. In addition, digital cockpit upgrades will be installed. The JMSDF will also receive thirty overhauled T56-A-16 engines. The aircraft had been in long term storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan, AFB, Arizona. Two additional KC-130Rs will later be inducted into the program. Work is expected to take approximately eleven months for each aircraft.
