Super Hercules fleet gets upgrades from Abbotsford, B.C., aerospace techs

Super Hercules fleet gets upgrades from Abbotsford, B.C., aerospace techs

Key military aircraft to be upgraded at specialized maintenance facility

An important aircraft for Canada’s military will be upgraded and maintained in Abbotsford, B.C., thanks to a recent defence contract extension.

In May, the federal government amended a contract with Lockheed Martin for about $1.5 billion Cdn ($1.1 billion US) to maintain and upgrade the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) CC-130J Super Hercules fleet, with some of that funding spent in Abbotsford. Canada bought 17 of the aircraft in 2009.

“It's a great opportunity,” said Mark Myers, vice-president of operations at Cascade Aerospace. “Cascade Aerospace is one of the largest privately owned companies in Abbotsford, and this work will help support good paying jobs within our community.”

The CC-130Js will replace Canada's legacy H-fleet, which is retiring this year.

Cascade Aerospace is one of three Lockheed Martin-certified heavy maintenance centres for the Hercules, and it’s responsible for in-service maintenance and upgrades.

The aircraft is equipped with Rolls-Royce engines and six-blade propellers. The airframe looks largely the same on the outside as it was in the 1950s, but has been completely digitized on the inside.

“With this aircraft versus the older style, it self-diagnoses itself continually when it’s up and running. You can tell where faults are because it will tell you itself. It’s more of a modernized, technical aircraft,” said Bart Devalk, an engineering crew lead.

The CC-130J has been described as a workhorse for the Canadian military, along with search and rescue operations.

The Hercules' various iterations have seen a variety of deployments across the world. Here in B.C., it dropped off troops in Abbotsford during the devastating flooding in 2021. It also has been converted for wildfire operations.

A different aircraft made by Airbus — the CC-295 Kingfisher — will replace it for search and rescue missions, though some Hercules are still made for the job.

A bigger Canadian defence strategy

The investment in the Hercules fleet comes during a time when the government is trying to reach new NATO defence spending targets of five per cent of GDP by 2035 — 3.5 per cent is to be spent on the military, and 1.5 per cent on defence infrastructure.

“Prior to this government, I think our best was 1.2 per cent of GDP, with promises of going higher,” said Alan Stephenson, a former RCAF CF-18 fighter pilot and a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

“So, this is significant — the amount of money that's being spent is an important message to send to our allies and to the government south of the border," he said.

The Pentagon has demanded a clear plan from Canada to meet its targets before the U.S. is to participate in binational defence planning.

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“I wouldn't be overly concerned with what you read in the papers because the real negotiations are happening behind closed doors,” said Stephenson.

“However, there is a real challenge for the government to be able to increase spending in the near term to meet those kind of goals,” he said.

Stephenson suggested a spending roadmap is on the way with the creation of Canada’s Defence Investment Agency in October last year.

Kier is an award-winning journalist reporting from CBC's Fraser Valley bureau in Abbotsford.