October 25, 2019
Meet the Harvest Hawk: A Refueling Plane Turned Into a Marine War Machine
Amazing.
by Sebastien Roblin
Key point: The Marines saw a need and so they modified a KC-130J tanker to fill that need.
Dropping bombs out of cargo planes has been a common measure of desperation for under-equipped air forces and opportunistic mercenaries throughout the history of aviation. However, in 2009 the U.S. Marine Corps found a way to make a virtue out of flexibility by developing Harvest Hawk, a kit which allowed their new KC-130J refueling tankers to double as missile-toting gunships and creepy aerial spying platforms that would put the Eye of Mordor to shame.
Heavily armed Hercules transports have existed since the feared AC-130 Specter gunship debuted during the Vietnam War, and the Air Force currently operates several different types. In 2009, the Marines joined in by developing the Hercules Airborne Weapons Kit, which can be bolted on to the service’s KC-1
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/meet-harvest-hawk-refueling-plane-turned-marine-war-machine-91266
