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The
Hercules, considered to be one of the most versatile transport planes, is used
to airlift troops, equipment and cargo, in Search and Rescue (SAR) operations
and in air-to-air refuelling of fighters.
The Hercules can be loaded and unloaded quickly, with little equipment, and
is especially useful in delivering supplies because it does not need a lot
of room to land.
 The plane can also be easily re-configured to carry fuel. During Operation
Boxtop, the restocking of Canadian Forces Station Alert, the northernmost permanent
habitation in the world, Hercules' are fitted with large fuel tanks to transport
more than 100 planeloads of fuel.
Since entering the fleet in 1960, the Hercules has delivered humanitarian
aid to trouble spots around the world. In 1999, Canadian Hercules crews ferried
emergency relief supplies to tens of thousands of refugees forced out of Kosovo
by the Serbian campaign of ethnic cleansing.
By
late June 2003, the Tactical Airlift Detachment (TAL Det) in Operation APOLLO
had carried approximately six thousand passengers and over 15 million pounds
of freight. Since June, Hercules crews and support personnel have been making
an important contribution to the UN operations in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, and they will continue to do so through the month of July.
This operation will be immediately followed by another deployment to sustain
the 1,800 CF personnel deploying to Kabul, Afghanistan. In the past two years,
the CC-130 Hercules has been actively employed in the War Against Terrorism.
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