Mark channels movie star with Hercules stunt
In a move reminiscent of a Tom Cruise movie, Defence Minister Ron Mark hung out the back of a Hercules while flying over Auckland yesterday morning.
Mark announced a $1.521 billion project to buy five C-130J-30 Super Hercules to replace the Air Force’s current C130-H Hercules fleet, which was introduced in 1965.
However, the first of them will not arrive until 2024, with the fleet to be operational in 2025.
Mark took a tour yesterday and edged out of the plane as far as he dared for some stunning views over Auckland.
But it wasn’t quite the stunt that Cruise pulled in Mission: Impossible — Fallout, when the actor took a
Halo jump (high-altitude, low-open) out of a C-17 in the opening scenes, not pulling the parachute until the last second.
Mark said the procurement of the Super Hercules fleet had been his “top priority” and acknowledged widely reported issues with the current fleet — including instances of having the whole fleet out of service due to faults and maintenance.
He said it had been only about 10 days since the Air Force was “once again in the awful position of having no Hercules serviceable”.
“So that meant if there was a counter-terrorist deployment, if there was a Search and Rescue deployment, if there was another cyclone that hit Vanuatu or Fiji again — we were powerless.”
Mark said “these were problems made worse” by the previous Government refusing to allocate defence spending.
“To be perfectly frank, successive governments have let the Defence Force down. These Hercules are 55 years old, they will be 60 years old when they finally are retired.”
The current fleet was having issues the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, had never heard of before, he said. “The degree of electrolysis that’s occurring, corrosion in places where no other Hercules have experienced corrosion, the number of extensions and modifications they’ve had has really taken them right to the edge.”
It would be challenging to keep the fleet in the air for another five years and Mark hoped the new fleet would have a shorter lifespan of 30-35 years.
The Super Hercules fleet is also used by the Five Eyes partners.
“We procure what we know is fit for service,” Mark said, adding they would be more reliable, easier to maintain and more fuel-efficient.
Chief of Air Force Air ViceMarshal Andrew Clark said the procurement of the Super Hercules was a significant milestone. “This decision means New Zealand will continue to be there when others need our help.”