The primary C-130J earmarked for conversion into the brand new E-130J Phoenix II has rolled out of the manufacturing facility, as proven in a picture launched by NAVAIR.
Naval Air Techniques Command, or NAVAIR, launched the picture through social media, claiming that the E-130J Phoenix II programme is on track to fulfill its ‘aggressive schedule’. The E-130J, which had its designation of Phoenix II revealed earlier this month, will exchange the Boeing 707-based E-6B Mercury in U.S. Navy service. This marks a return to the C-130 airframe for the TACAMO (Take Cost and Transfer Out) position, which was offered by EC-130Q Hercules plane (primarily based on the legacy C-130H) between 1963 and 1993.
#ICYMI: E-130J program is on monitor to their aggressive schedule. The primary airframe has emerged to be transformed into the primary Phoenix II. This can be a testomony of #speedtothefleet and fleet #readiness as the subsequent section of the TACAMO mission takes form with a seamless transition. pic.twitter.com/Ybz061wl2E
— NAVAIR (@NAVAIRNews) September 4, 2025
The primary E-130Js are anticipated in operational service round 2028. Though the primary airframe has been constructed, it should nonetheless endure a major modification course of to be fitted with the required mission gear. This features a complete communications suite that may facilitate extra VHF, UHF, and HF radio capabilities, by way of to enhanced satellite tv for pc communications (SATCOM) and, famously, the power to transmit very low frequency (VLF) alerts through twin trailing wire antennas. The plane will even obtain hardening towards the consequences of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), which might be generated by nuclear detonations, in addition to the newest cybersecurity measures.
SATCOM will enable the plane to speak with forces and navy or political management internationally, whereas the VLF antenna will allow the transmission of messages to submerged submarines, significantly ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), which might obtain nuclear launch instructions by way of this hyperlink.
Present indications recommend that the E-130J is not going to inherit the Trying Glass position from its E-6B predecessor, that means the plane could not be accountable for commanding the U.S. Air Power’s fleet of nuclear bombers or intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The E-6B is notably the one plane presently configured with the Airborne Launch Management System (ALCS) which permits operators on board the plane to remotely launch Minuteman III ICBMs, offering an additional layer of survivability by permitting missiles to be launched even when all Launch Management Centres of their respective squadrons have been destroyed. It’s doable the Trying Glass mission, additionally known as the Airborne Command Put up (ABNCP), can be built-in into the mission set of the Air Power’s new E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Centre (SAOC).
US Navy E-6B Mercury #AE041A as ROKE02 is up from Vandenberg SFB two hours early to command the launch of GT-248, a MinuteMan III ICBM through the E-6s Airborne Launch Management System. That is the second time this 12 months that this perform has been examined. The launch window is… pic.twitter.com/Uwx8frktFB
— TheIntelFrog (@TheIntelFrog) November 1, 2023
In June, the U.S. Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO) questioned whether or not the E-130J will meet the operational availability necessities wanted by the U.S. Navy for its very important mission, and expressed considerations concerning the combination of the assorted applied sciences onto the airframes. The U.S. Navy defended its selection of the C-130J for the mission.
The brand new picture reveals the fast tempo at which C-130Js might be constructed, given our final have a look at the plane lower than a 12 months in the past depicted it nonetheless as a skeletal construction. It’s probably that the mission techniques integration course of, not less than for the primary few airframes, can be extra prolonged than the precise building of the plane.
Sneak peek on the first of three C-130J-30 Tremendous Hercules plane that can be modified into an E-130J Engineering Growth Mannequin (EMD). The air car is being constructed by Lockheed Martin Corp. for the E-130J, the successor to the E-6B Mercury for the TACAMO mission. pic.twitter.com/lnsKitbe2b
— NAVAIR (@NAVAIRNews) November 19, 2024
What number of E-130Js will enter into U.S. Navy service has but to be confirmed. The E-6B Mercury fleet due to get replaced by the early to mid 2030s numbers 16 airframes. Whereas the E-130J’s turboprop efficiency is not going to match the vary or pace of the E-6B, if the Trying Glass position is certainly faraway from the requirement sheet this may enable fewer airframes to cowl the remaining hole. Outwith the unspecified considerations about operational availability famous by the GAO, the bottom C-130 airframe attains a reasonably excessive availability charge throughout the U.S. navy.
Whereas the E-130J will add extra techniques that might go incorrect, it additionally advantages from an intensive current logistics community and data base for the C-130 airframe in addition to its major sub-systems. Spare elements and upkeep gear, even when working abroad, can be far simpler to supply than for the E-6B. The Boeing 707 upon which the Mercury is predicated has beforehand been a mainstay of the U.S. navy, however with the withdrawal of the E-8C and eventual upcoming retirement of the E-3 Sentry the plane will change into ever extra unusual. Regardless of outward similarities, the C-135 upon which the KC-135, RC-135, WC-135 and others, are primarily based is a distinct airframe (derived from a shared ancestor) with just some commonality.
Whereas the C-130J airframe itself is constructed by Lockheed Martin, the general effort to supply the E-130J is led by Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman lists the E-130J programme staff as together with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Raytheon, Crescent Techniques Inc, and Lengthy Wave Inc. The contribution by Raytheon (also called RTX) is probably going by way of subsidiary Collins Aerospace, who’ve produced the VLF trailing wire techniques and radios for each the EC-130Q and E-6B in addition to the E-4B Nightwatch.
