US Navy receives first C-130J for conversion into E-130J nuclear command and control aircraft
The so-called ‘Take Charge and Move Out’ or TACAMO mission is currently filled by the Boeing E-6B Mercury.
The US Navy (USN) has taken delivery of the first Lockheed Martin C-130J transport that will be converted into a new command and control aircraft specifically configured for launching nuclear missiles.
Lockheed handed over the ‘green’ C-130J-30 extended fuselage transport at the company’s Super Hercules production facility in Marietta, Georgia, on 15 October. The company had begun assembling that aircraft in 2024.
Before it enters service, Northrop Grumman will convert the four-engined turboprop into the lead E-130J Phoenix II — which will assume responsiblity for the so-called “Take Charge and Move Out” or TACAMO mission.
That role is currently filled by the Boeing E-6B Mercury — a fleet of 16 converted 707 passenger jets that serve as a communications relay station for the USN’s ballistic missile submarines. The E-6 is also able to connect the US president and senior leaders with the other two legs of the American ‘nuclear triad’ — land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and US Air Force (USAF) bombers.
Northrop won the $3.5 billion E-6B replacement deal in 2024.
Renderings of the future E-130J released by Northrop Grumman suggest there will be structural modifications made to the C-130J airframe for communications antennas. Source: Northrop Grumman
The arrival of the first E-130J will mark the return of the TACAMO mission to the C-130 platform. Before the E-6, that role was filled by Lockheed’s EC-130Q from 1963 to 1993.
The E-130J will become the latest variant of the Super Hercules family, which Lockheed says now comes in 20 speciality versions. The navy plans to field 31 of the converted C-130Js, including 25 production models, roughly doubling the size of the E-6B TACAMO fleet.
“The C-130J-30 Super Hercules continues to evolve and adapt to the needs of our customers, carrying the proven reliability of its lineage while transforming into a new, strategic mission set,” says Trish Pagan, vice-president of Lockheed’s air mobility and maritime missions unit.
As prime contractor on programme, Northrop will be responsible for modifying the green C-130Js and installing the specialised communciations equipment needed for the TACAMO mission, “as we transition into mission systems integration to field the E-130J Phoenix II”, says the navy’s airborne strategic command, control and communications programme manager Captain Roger Davis.
That process will not necessarily be straightforward, as the navy moves from a large, four-engined jet to a smaller turboprop-powered tactical transport.
A July report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that contractors are “modifying already-existing mission systems to reduce their weight, which the independent assessment anticipated would be necessary to accommodate them on the C-130J-30 airframe”.
The 707-based E-6B Mercury is significantly larger than the EC-130J that will replace it. Source: Northrop Grumman
A rendering of the future E-130J released by Northrop in 2024 suggests there will be structural modifications made to the C-130J airframe for communications antennas. Another notable change is that the E-130J is expected to solely be responsible for the naval portion of the nuclear triad.
While the E-6B currently handles both the navy TACAMO mission and communicating with the air force’s ground-based ICBMs and bombers, the E-130J will only send launch orders to the navy’s missile submarines.
The USAF is exploring multiple options for relaying nuclear launch orders, which it calls the “Looking Glass” mission. One possibility is the forthcoming E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center, which Sierra Nevada is actively developing from converted Boeing 747-8 airliners.
A critical design review of the E-130J engineering activity is expected in late 2027, according to the GAO, with a production decision and the transition into low-rate production not projected until 2029.
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