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CC-130 Hercules

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. Recently, Canadian Hercules crews ferried emergency relief supplies to tens of thousands of refugees forced out of Kosovo by the Serbian campaign of ethnic cleansing.