VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Looking at the many buttons and knobs in the cockpit of a C-130H, it might be hard to tell that the aircraft was introduced in the late 1950s. But if some of the plane's systems aren't modernized by the end of the decade, the plane could be woefully obsolete.

“There are changes in the international air space and the federal air space that require us to make changes to our avionics and electronics in the air plane, both for communication and navigation,” said Col. James Dignan, commander of the 910th airlift wing and Youngstown Air Reserve Station. “We have to have plans to operate in any air space so we can operate anywhere in the world if we're called on just as our active duty counterparts do.”

To comply with regulations regarding flight in civil airspace, modernizing the plane would include adding night-vision capable digital displays -- the current system is analog -- and adding a flight management system used on Boeing 737 civilian aircraft, according to Defense Industry Daily.

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