E-130J will Take Charge And Move Out!
October 25, 2024
On 21 October 2024, the US Navy’s Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications Program Office (PMA-271) and Strategic Communications Wing 1 (SCW-1) announced that the Navy’s new Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) mission aircraft (previously known simply as E-XX) will be designated as the E-130J.
The mission of SCW-1 is to receive, verify and retransmit Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) to US strategic forces – particularly its ballistic missile submarines. SCW-1 includes three squadrons home based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. These are Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Three (VQ-3) ‘Ironmen’, VQ-4 ‘Shadows’ and VQ-7 ‘Roughnecks’.
The new designation (or mission design series – MDS) had to be approved by the Air Force, which is responsible for clearing all military aircraft designations. In this case, the E
in the aircraft’s mission design series stands for special electronic installation; 130 is the design number and reflects the aircraft’s origins as the EC-130; and J is the series, indicates that it will be modified from the proven C-130J-30 Super Hercules airframe. A common name (eg: Mercury) has not been selected.
PMA-271 Program Manager Capt. Adam Scott said that: “I am proud to announce that the U.S. Navy’s new TACAMO aircraft will be the E-130J. This is an important milestone as we work toward delivering the next generation of TACAMO aircraft to the warfighter.”
PMA-271 is procuring the E-130J through the TACAMO Recapitalization Program. The E-130J will replace the Navy’s Boeing 707-derived E-6B Mercury fleet in the TACAMO role, providing robust and secure communications between the president, the secretary of defense and US Strategic Command with naval ballistic missile forces. Ironically, the E-6B replaced an older Hercules variant, the EC-130Q which was based on the C-130H and is now itself giving way to a newer one.
The E-6B Mercury is a communications relay and strategic airborne command post aircraft. It provides survivable, reliable, and endurable airborne Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) for the president, secretary of defense and US Strategic Command. Its missions include the so-called Looking Glass mission (mirroring the ground-based C3 center at Offutt AFB and relaying orders); talking to submarines while trailing a 26,000 ft wire antenna; launching commands to ICBMs (Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles) via the Airborne Launch Control System, and performing C3 (Command, Control and Communications) duties in support of theatre forces and US strategic bombers flying Global Strike missions.
SCW-1 Commander Capt. Britt Windeler noted that: “The E-130J will assure that our nation’s leadership maintains control of its strategic forces as the E-6B gets closer to end of life, and enable it to focus on the performance of other critical missions until sundown.”
The TACAMO Recapitalization Program solicitation closed in April 2024, aimed to find a prime contractor to integrate TACAMO mission systems, including the Collins Aerospace Very Low Frequency (VLF) subsystem, into government-furnished C-130J-30 aircraft. Contract award is scheduled for January 2025.
Three pre-production aircraft were purchased in FY2023: one will be used for air vehicle testing, and the other two for mission systems testing. The US Navy expects to purchase three production aircraft in FY2027 and another six in FY2028. The new E-130Js are expected to be fitted with long trailing wire antenna systems and a range of communications systems, and are also expected to be hardened against electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and to incorporate cybersecurity measures.
