US Navy receives first C-130J-30 to become the E-130J Phoenix II TACAMO aircraft

Lockheed Martin has delivered a C-130J-30 Super Hercules to the US Navy that will be converted into the E-130J Phoenix II, the service’s next-generation TACAMO aircraft. The company said the delivery took place on 15 October at its Marietta, Georgia, facility.

TACAMO is the Navy’s airborne mission supporting nuclear command and control, according to the release. The aircraft will now go to Northrop Grumman, the mission systems integrator, which is to complete the conversion.

A platform with a long lineage

Lockheed Martin recalls that the Navy’s previous TACAMO platform was the EC-130Q, flown from 1963 to 1993. The C-130J-30 is a four-engine transport that the company says is certified for 20 mission sets, with a global fleet of more than 570 aircraft.

Trish Pagan, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of Air Mobility and Maritime Missions, called the delivery “a historic milestone” for the Navy and the company. Capt. Roger Davis, the Navy’s PMA-271 programme manager, said the “battle-proven airframe provides the structural and performance backbone our mission requires”.

The release does not give a schedule for the conversion, the number of aircraft planned or a contract value, and none of those details are stated here. The facts above are taken from Lockheed Martin’s press release and are company statements.