The US Navy has received a C-130J-30 Super Hercules from Lockheed Martin for conversion into the first E-130J Phoenix II aircraft supporting its Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) mission. Delivered at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Georgia, facility on 15 October, the aircraft will provide the host platform for the Navy’s next-generation airborne nuclear command-and-control communications system.
The aircraft will be transferred to Northrop Grumman, which is leading mission-systems integration for the E-130J programme. Collins Aerospace is supplying the very-low-frequency communications systems. The delivered airframe is not yet an operational E-130J; it must undergo mission-system modification, ground testing and developmental flight testing before fielding.
The delivery is the first step in replacing the Navy’s legacy E-6B Mercury TACAMO fleet and reconnects the mission with the Hercules family, which previously supported TACAMO through the EC-130Q. The C-130J-30 is one of three aircraft included in the Navy’s initial procurement, completed in September 2024.
Navy Capt. Roger Davis, programme manager for Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications at PMA-271, described acceptance of the aircraft as the beginning of the transition to mission-systems integration. No operational in-service date has been disclosed.