US Air Force Completes Program That Allows it to Transform Cargo Planes into Bombers Written 25 May 2021
A C-130E Hercules from the 43rd Airlift Wing. | Credit: Tech. Sgt. Howard Blair; USAF; Wikipedia; Public Domain
The Daily Mail (UK) reports that the US Air Force “has successfully completed an experimental program to rapidly transform cargo planes into bombers, massively enlarging its firepower capabilities should an armed conflict break out.” The program allows the C-17 Globemaster III and the C-130 Hercules to be converted into bombers. After “two years of experiments, the Air Force successfully tested its first parachute-missile launcher from a transport plane above the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in March.” According to “PopularMechanics.com, the Air Force believes it can fire as many as 32 cruise missiles on one cargo flight.” The “300 C-130 Hercules and more than 222 C-17 Globemasters the Air Force currently operates would dramatically expand its offensive capabilities.”
Full Story (Daily Mail)