With over half a century of service, there is little doubt that the Lockheed C-130 Hercules is one of the crowning achievements of the post-war US aviation industry and by every conceivable measure the most important transport aircraft in the world today. Its revolutionary high-set wing configuration with side fairings on the fuselage for the landing gear became the standard for every aircraft of its kind since (both Western and Soviet) and even the most recent versions (which continue to be built!) differ suprisingly little from the initial design. In its original transport versions, the C-130 became the workhorse of the US tactical airlift effort in the Vietnam War but the 'Herc' has seen action in virtually every single military operation where American forces have been involved in, as well as being adapted to a myriad of roles including search-and-rescue, refuelling, electronic warfare, psychological warfare and even as an assault gunship. Its foreign operators are too numerous to list but perhaps its most notable operation was performed by Israeli commandos which flew five C-130s from Israel to Uganda during Operation Entebbe in 1976 to rescue over a hundred airliner passengers hijacked by terrorists. Overall, whether it's military operations, humanitarian aid missions or disaster relief emergencies, one can almost be sure that a Hercules will be right in the middle of the action.

The YC-130 prototype first flew as early as 23 August 1954 as a result of a USAF requirement for a tactical transport with STOL performance. The initial transport variant entered production as the C-130A, over two hundred were built for the USAF and the RAF before production switched to the C-130B featuring more powerful engines which increased speed, payload, and fuel capacity. Pending the arrival of the C-141, the Hercules was adapted for long-range transoceanic missions as the C-130E and was adopted by the USN with the C-130F designation; these were the most widely used versions during the Vietnam War where they suffered heavy losses but performed admirably. The next generation of Hercules transports began with the C-130H which featured longer range and improved avionics, they were also continually upgraded throughout their production run most notably by means of a stretched fuselage (this was even more promient in the C-130K modified by Marshall of Cambridge for the RAF). The latest transport variant is the C-130J which comes with a new powerplant, advanced avionics and a reduced crew of three, it is the only Hercules to remain in production (a stretched version similar to RAF variants is known as the C-130J-30). Among the non-transports, the Hercules has been adapted as an assault gunship known as the AC-130 Spectre. Three versions of this fearsome aircraft have been built, the AC-130A, AC-130H, and the more recent AC-130U, the latter two equipped with 20-mm and 40-mm guns as well as a 105-mm howitzer. Additionally, a tanker variant with twin refuelling pods used by the USMC is known as the KC-130 with variants including the KC-130F and KC-130R (based on the C-130A and H respectively) as well as newer KC-130T with more advanced systems. Perhaps the most mysterious of all Hercules variants is the MC-130 Combat Talon, these are used for special operations including infiltration, exfiltration and psychological warfare. Variants include the MC-130E and MC-130H, the MC-130P Combat Shadow, and the newest MC-130W. Finally, the Hercules is also used for a number of support duties including search-and-rescue (HC-130B, H, P, and N), weather reconnaissance (HC-130H), and electronic warfare (EC-130H Compass Call and EC-130J Commando Solo). In general, the designation suffix of these variants represents the original transport version they are based on.