U.S. Representatives Barry Loudermilk of Georgia’s 11th District and David Scott of the 13th District signed a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Defense to increase the number of new C-130J aircraft it is requesting for the FY2023-2028 budget.

Both their districts include parts of Cobb County.

The C-130J is manufactured at Lockheed Martin‘s Marietta facility.

The letter, reported in a press release from Loudermilk, was also signed by the following members of Congress:

Darin LaHood
Liz Cheney
Rodney Davis
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.
Tim Ryan
Cheri Bustos
Austin Scott
Mike Quigley
Julia Brownley
Brian Fitzpatrick

“In terms of military readiness and our ability to respond to conflicts quickly around the globe, the C-130J is arguably the most important aircraft we have. Additionally, every C-130J is manufactured in Georgia’s 11th Congressional District, at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Marietta, which employs close to 3,000 hardworking Georgians,” Loudermilk wrote in the press release. “I have written multiple letters advocating for the increased production of the C-130J; and, this year we had the largest number of bipartisan lawmakers support this effort. This is a testament to how important this aircraft is to the U.S. remaining the world’s preeminent military superpower.”

Lockheed Martin and Cobb County

The Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta has been a major employer in Cobb County since 1951, when the Lockheed Corporation, a predecessor of Lockheed Martin, took over the former site of the WWII Bell Bomber plant.

In response to a request by the Courier for a previous article, the spokesperson for the Marietta operations of the company wrote:

The C-130 remains the largest program at the Marietta site. We are currently building the C-130J Super Hercules and I’ve attached our updated Fast Facts for insights on that program. We’ve produced every production model C-130 at the Marietta site, which means Hercs have been rolling out of Marietta for almost 66 years. It’s staple here in Cobb County! You can learn more about the C-130J in our brochure located here.

We also provide support (i.e., sustainment) for the C-5 Galaxy, which wrapped up a major modification providing 52 C-5s with new engines and avionics, in 2018. We celebrated the C-5’s 50^th anniversary in 2018 and expect to see that aircraft in service – thanks to its upgrades and unique hauling capabilities – until 2045. See press release for more information. We also support the P-3 Orion through Marietta-based teams. Additionally, we manufacture F-35 center wings here in Marietta.