The Minnesota Air National Guard is set to get eight new C-130J "Super Hercules" planes in 2027, but a new hangar is required to house the huge aircraft.

On Wednesday morning, Minnesota U.S Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith visited the 133rd Airlift Wing in St. Paul to announce the next step in the process. 

As part of the 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill the Senate passed in July, the guard will be able to design a C-130J Fuel Cell Maintenance Hangar.  

The current hanger isn't big enough to work on the new planes that are 15-feet longer than the current C-130s.    

"Now this is a big deal that we passed this through the Senate, and it's important because we can all see, and you all who work here know better than us, that this current hangar is 68 years old and it cannot accommodate the new plane that we'll be receiving in just a couple of years," Smith said. "There are multiple failing systems, I'm told, from heating and fire suppression, to the hangar doors themselves. So we need a new hangar."

Congress approved more than $5 million to design the new hangar, but they still need to approve funding for its construction.