The U.S. government has not budgeted for any of the most recognizable aircraft in Marietta over the next two years.
That pause in production threatens local jobs and military strength, according to an influential trade union and members of Congress opposed to the deal.
The bipartisan group of 68 members of U.S. Congress is asking their colleagues responsible for budgeting to reverse their decision to not fund any new C-130J aircraft, built by Lockheed Martin at its Marietta plant, in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
The pause in production of the C-130J for the U.S. military until fiscal year 2027 would be the first in the airplane’s 70-year history.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has led the charge on Capitol Hill to reverse the decision, according to the union’s announcement Thursday. The pause would affect members of IAM Local 709 at Lockheed’s Marietta facility, where all C-130s have been built since the aircraft’s inception.
“For over 60 years, IAM members in Marietta have been producing military aircraft that are unmatched,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Craig Martin. “This community relies on those jobs, and those jobs support other jobs in Georgia and across the country. We need to take a longer view at what ‘zero budgeted’ funding will actually do to jobs in Marietta.”
In an open letter to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, the 68 Congress members, including Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, and Lucy McBath, D- Marietta, urged a reversal of the “zero budgeted” decision.
“The current C-130J Super Hercules is the most capable tactical airlifter in the world,” the members of Congress wrote. “A stable C-130J production line supporting current and future validated ( Department of Defense) requirements is the best approach to preserving the 380 suppliers across 36 states that support the 27,200 direct and indirect jobs, yielding more than $3.7 billion of total economic impact.”
They noted in the letter the C-130J program is not only “the longest continuously running military production in history,” but also the only active production line for U.S. airlifters.
“A significant drop in production over the next three years could dramatically increase C-130J pricing, undermine national security and that of our allies at a dangerous time in world affairs, and erode the strength of the national supplier base when many future requirements remain unfilled,” the group wrote in the letter.
Earlier this year, the Georgia General Assembly declared 2024 the “Year of the Super Hercules,” in honor of the most recent iteration of the aircraft: the C-130J Super Hercules.
Rod McLean, general manager of Lockheed’s Marietta plant and the company’s vice president of Air Mobility & Maritime Missions, previously told the MDJ that the declaration “speaks to the relevance the aircraft continues to have.”
While it remains uncertain whether the U.S. government will buy more C-130J aircraft in the next two years, other governments across the globe are expecting deliveries soon, including Germany, Indonesia and New Zealand.
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