Wing's C-130 aircraft to get new color weather radar

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Jerry Lobb
  • 908th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MAXWELL AFB, Ala. --  Taking a giant leap into the 21st century, eight C-130H-2 aircraft assigned to the 908th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve will be upgraded with state-of-the-art radar that will greatly enhance the Wing' s mission for providing global and tactical airlift, including support to overseas locations for the War on Terrorism.

The new upgrade is the "AN/APN 241 Low Power Color Radar" and is commonly referred to as "APN-241". Installation for the new radar is scheduled for fall of 2007.
"I am ecstatic," remarked Col. Michael J. Underkofler, commander of the 908th AW. He emphasized this is a major upgrade for the aging C-130H-2 aircraft, which first arrived in the Wing in 1986.

Colonel Underkofler explained the APN-241 has three major advantages over radar currently used -- greatly improved picture of the weather and terrain, increased reliability and maintainability and significantly reduced operating costs.

Recently assigned to the 908th AW from Keesler AFB, Miss., where he used the APN-241 in the C-130J, Lockheed's latest version of the workhorse aircraft, Colonel Underkofler stressed the APN-241 will definitely afford our aircrews more protection in a combat environment.

Col. John Jones, 908th Operations Group commander, said many of the 908th AW aircrews have become familiar with the APN-241 while flying aircraft owned by units outside the 908th AW.

Colonel Jones added the display for the new radar can show the aircraft's projected flight path so the crew can clearly see what is happening for several hundred miles. He added the radar also detects turbulence and low level, horizontal wind shear, and provides precision ground mapping capabilities. When used with other existing aircraft equipment, the colonel said the new radar will allow the aircraft to perform precision airdrops in all weather conditions.

"The APN-241 will certainly reduce our workload," said Senior Master Sgt. Doug Dearth, 908th Maintenance Squadron's chief of avionics. "If we are lucky, the APN-59 (current radar) will fly about 50 hours before it needs four to eight hours of maintenance. By comparison, units flying APR-241 equipped aircraft fly more than 1,000 hours before their systems need a two-and-a-half hour repair."