Latest news with #KC-130Ts
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Buying KC-130Js Key To Navy's Ability To Fight In Pacific: Reserve Boss
The head of the U.S. Navy Reserve says that acquiring new C-130J Hercules aircraft is a top priority, particularly because of the critical organic aerial refueling capacity they could provide in a future Pacific fight. The Navy currently relies on U.S. Air Force tankers to provide aerial refueling support, fleets that are already strained by non-combat demands. Aging Navy Reserve C-130Ts already play key, if largely unsung, air refueling and logistics roles, including supporting deployed carrier strike groups by moving munitions, spare parts, and other cargoes to forward locations on land. Chief of Navy Reserve Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore talked about the importance of new C-130Js, and of timely funding to purchase them, at multiple points during a hearing before members of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday. The Navy Reserve has 16 C-130Ts and 11 KC-130Ts, the latter of which are capable of being used as tankers, according to Naval Air Systems Command's (NAVAIR) website at the time of writing. Five more KC-130Ts are also in service with Navy test and evaluation units. The KC/C-130Ts first began entering Navy and Marine Corps service in the 1980s, and the latter service retired the last of its T variant Hercules aircraft in 2021 after transitioning to the more capable and otherwise improved J model. 'The C-130 is our number one equipment priority, and we are behind … for that recapitalization effort,' Lacore said. 'We started this recap journey in 2024, and we're behind … The plan was to be at 32 [C-130J] aircraft by 2030. We got one in [the budget in Fiscal Year 20]24, two in [Fiscal Year 20]25, and we're super grateful for them. But right now, for the out years, we need to be looking at six per year in order to get us where we need to go.' 'We have 27 aircraft right now, the Tangos, with an average age of 34 years and a mission-capable rate of 40 percent,' Lacore added. With new C-130Js, 'we also anticipate a 75 percent mission-capable rate, which will go a long way,' as well as 'doubling our sortie rate' and 'getting three times the service radius in combat.' With a typical payload, the maximum ranges of the C-130H, from which the C-130T is derived, and the C-130J are 1,208 miles and 2,071 miles, respectively, per the U.S. Air Force. Total weight, including internal fuel, as well as operational considerations and other factors, all affect an aircraft's useful combat radius. The C-130J also has a higher top speed and altitude ceiling than the C-130H or T, which can help extend range, as well as reduce the time required to get from one point to another. It is worth noting that a portion of the Navy's KC/C-130T fleet has received new eight-bladed NP2000 propellers and other upgrades, as have certain Air Force C-130Hs, which do provide more limited performance and fuel efficiency boosts, as you can read more about here. Navy E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control planes and C-2 Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft also feature NP2000 propellers. At the hearing yesterday, Lacore explicitly highlighted the benefits the J model Hercules aircraft offer when it comes to improving the Navy Reserve's ability to provide aerial refueling support, as well as dispense fuel on the ground at forward locations. She further noted how this could be particularly valuable for future operations across the broad expanses of the Pacific. 'The PACFLT [U.S. Pacific Fleet] commander has already asked us for, you know, to work on organic aerial refueling, and we are doing that with the Tangos, but it's a long haul. They're not all plumbed for that,' Lacore said. As noted, less than half of the aircraft in the existing Navy Reserve C-130 fleet are KC-130T tankers. 'The Juliets will come with that plumbing already established,' Lacore continued. 'We anticipate with that [to be able to provide] at least two times the aerial refueling rate. And if we include ground refueling as well, we're looking at probably eight times our refueling capability in theater, which is which will be a huge win for us in the Pacific.' Navy C-130Js configured tankers, like the current KC-130Ts, will only be able to refuel aircraft using the probe-and-drogue method, at least as presently planned. Probe-and-drogue is the preferred means of aerial refueling for Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. It is also used by aerial refueling-capable U.S. Army and Air Force helicopters, as well as CV-22 Ospreys belong to the latter service. The Air Force prefers the boom method for refueling its fixed-wing aircraft. Lacore further highlighted how the C-130Js will come with more advanced defensive features than are found on the KC/C-130Ts, which will allow the Navy Reserve to operate the aircraft in more dangerous environments. As mentioned, the Navy, overall, currently relies heavily on the Air Force to provide aerial refueling support during combat operations, as well as peacetime training and other activities. The Navy is currently pressing ahead with plans to add new MQ-25 Stingray tanker drones to its carrier air wings. At the same time, the service does not expect to field the MQ-25 in significant numbers until the 2030s. Even then, the uncrewed tankers will not eliminate demand for additional aerial refueling support, especially in a large-scale conflict. After U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released a video showing an Air Force HC-130J Combat King II aircraft refueling a Navy E-2D Hawkeye somewhere in the Middle East, TWZ highlighted the relevance of C-130-based tankers, as well as other smaller aerial refueling aircraft, in a Pacific scenario. The HC-130J is a combat search and rescue (CSAR) aircraft that is also configured to act as a tanker, primarily for CSAR helicopters. As we wrote: 'The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps are both refining new concepts of operations that focus heavily on expeditionary and distributed operations and rapid deployment to remote and/or austere forward locations with minimal support as part of preparations for a potential high-end conflict, especially one against China.' 'The ability to operate from shorter runways and with a lower logistic footprint, as well as being able to get gas once in the air from smaller propeller-driven tankers, or even future drones like the MQ-25 Stingray, would be more relevant than ever in the context of an island-hopping campaign.' A @USNavy E-2D refuels inflight from an @usairforce HC-130 over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 6, 2024 Forward operations at far-flung locations with shorter runways could create additional need for aerial refueling. For instance, tactical jets might need to take off with less fuel to be able to get airborne with a full ordnance load, and then immediately link up with a tanker to top up. Tankers orbiting closer to forward bases could help fast jets low on fuel make it back safely after missions, as well. Navy C-130 tankers would be limited to offloading fuel in flight via the probe-and-drogue method, but this could, in turn, help alleviate operational strain, even during peacetime, on boom-equipped Air Force tankers. In a future large-scale conflict, Navy tactical jets could find themselves at forward bases on land together with their Marine counterparts, and additional tankers could help ease demands on the latter service's KC-130Js. Tankers, in general, are expected to be in extremely high demand during any future high-end fight, and those aircraft will also be targets for enemy forces. All of this further reinforces the value of the Navy providing additional organic aerial refueling support. In addition, Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore said yesterday that new C-130Js will help the Navy Reserve improve its ability to perform its logistics airlift mission, which could also be very relevant in a future conflict in the Pacific region. She pointed out that Navy C-130Ts had already been an important part of the supply chain to get munitions and other materiel to Navy carrier strike groups during recent operations in and around the Red Sea. 'The C-130 Tango Hercules, operated exclusively by the Reserve, is the Navy's only long-range intertheater airlift [asset] for oversized cargo. This capability is in high demand from Fleet commanders, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, playing a critical role in the contested logistics necessary to sustain a maritime fight,' Lacore explained. 'Last year, Navy Reserve airlift transported more than 80,000 passengers and 20 million pounds of cargo, sustaining carrier strike groups in every theater, delivering salvage teams, resupplying critical munitions, and providing repair parts to keep F-35 flying in the Pacific and Aegis destroyers on station in the Red Sea.' 'Over the past few months, Reserve C-130 crews transported thousands of pounds of ordnance into the Red Sea fight, keeping our ships on station' so they could continue 'intercepting Houthi missiles, conducting precision strikes, and safeguarding global commerce,' she added. New C-130Js are 'critical to ensuring that we can effectively and safely carry out the critical intertheater logistics missions for the fleet.' The Air Force also currently provides the bulk of all fixed-wing airlift capacity across the U.S. military, something that would also be in high demand for moving personnel and material across the Pacific during a future conflict in the region. Overall, the Navy Reserve's continued push to replace its KC/C-130Ts with new C-130Js is not just about modernization, but reflects the service's growing view that those aircraft will play a critical role in any future fight in the Pacific. In the meantime, the aging T variants will continue providing already important aerial refueling and airlift support. Contact the author: joe@
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Starlink-Equipped Navy C-130s Offer Communication Boost For Pacific Missile Tests
KC-130T Hercules tanker/transports belonging to the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30 (VX-30), the 'Bloodhounds,' are gaining the ability to link up to the Starlink satellite constellation to help with long-range missile and other test work out in the Pacific. Adding Starlink to the KC-130Ts underscores the growing importance of SpaceX's space-based internet service, and its more secure government-focused cousin Starshield, to America's armed forces, including to support tactical communications needs. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) confirmed to TWZ that one of two KC-130Ts assigned to VX-30, which is based at Naval Air Station Point Mugu in California (now technically part of Naval Base Ventura County), received a prototype Starlink connection last September. The Bloodhound's other Hercules is now set to be modified with Starlink this summer. NAVAIR does not currently plan to integrate Starlink onto three more KC-130Ts assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 (VX-20) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. 'KC-130Ts have been modified with Starlink equipment to relay communications and data beyond-line-of-sight, providing mobile range infrastructure for operations on the Point Mugu Sea Range,' a NAVAIR spokesperson told TWZ. The expansive Point Mugu Sea Range lies in the Pacific just off the coast of Southern California. It is used for a wide array of research and development, test and evaluation, and training purposes, especially live-first tests of new and improved missiles. In recent years, the U.S. military has notably used the range to support testing of new hypersonic missiles. Just last week, NAVAIR's Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) announced that it had used a modified BQM-34 target drone to launch a test article equipped with a Solid Fuel Integral Rocket Ramjet (SFIRR) out over the Point Mugu Sea Range. 'This successful integration validates key aspects of our design and moves us closer to delivering an advanced propulsion system that will provide warfighters with greater range and speed,' Abbey Horning, product director of NAWCWD's Advanced Concepts, Prototyping and Experimentation office, said in a statement. 'We're not just revisiting an old idea; we're refining and modernizing it to fit today's mission.' The Navy did not name any specific missile programs that the SFIRR work might be supporting. As noted, rocket ramjets are not new, but modernized designs could still be very relevant for powering future high-speed and long-range missiles. Extended range and speed are key priorities in various known missile programs across the U.S. military. VX-30 also operates highly specialized range support aircraft equipped with radars, cameras, and other equipment to collect imagery, telemetry, and other data during tests. This includes one-of-a-kind NC-20G and NC-37B planes based on different Gulfstream business jets. For various types of aerial tests, especially of very-long-range hypersonic missiles that supporting aircraft can't keep pace with, it is important to have multiple air and other assets spread across the intended route. This, in turn, creates the additional challenge of relaying the data collected back to test facilities ashore to help with live monitoring and speed up the process of conducting deeper analysis. These are notably the same realities that also led the Air Force to convert retired RQ-4 Global Hawk drones into range support platforms as part of its SkyRange hypersonic weapon testing infrastructure program, which you can read more about here. Equipping VX-30's KC-130Ts with Starlink would give the aircraft the ability to help get important data from missile and other tests occurring far out in the Point Mugu Sea Range to wherever it might need to go. The KC-130Ts could also join other VX-30 range support aircraft on deployments to provide their services elsewhere around the world, including in other ranges in the Pacific off Hawaii and in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. It is important to make clear here that the U.S. military's use of Starlink, as well as the aforementioned military-specific Starshield network, along with other commercial satellite internet services, is not new. This is a trend that extends beyond well aerial platforms and America's armed forces, as well. Starlink connectivity, specifically, has also been integrated onto C-130-type aircraft in the past. Previous testing has demonstrated how Starlink might even have potential applications for supporting tactical operations, including as a means of transmitting targeting data. There are certainly operational security questions when it comes to the use of commercial satellite internet to support even day-to-day peacetime operations, as you can read more about here. Still, VX-30's KC-130Ts getting this additional beyond-line-of-sight communications capability does further underscore the increasing importance of satellite constellations like Starlink to the U.S. military. SpaceX is also working on additional satellite constellations for the U.S. military, including ones that could provide game-changing persistent air and ground moving target tracking globally. The company, founded by Elon Musk, a close political ally of President Donald Trump, is also vying to play a major role in the new Golden Dome missile defense initiative, which focuses heavily on new space-based interceptors and other additional capabilities in orbit. Whether VX-30's addition of Starlink capability to its KC-130Ts might lead to the addition of this capability on other Navy aircraft or ones elsewhere across the U.S. military. In February, the Navy did highlight continued progress on other upgrades to KC-130Ts assigned to Navy Reserve units. The service noted at that time how the aircraft could be called upon to play a role in future conflicts or other contingencies, especially across the broad expanses of the Pacific. 'If we look forward to any future fight, it's going to take intense collaboration between all of the forces: Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard,' Navy Capt. Elizabeth Somerville, Commodore of NAWCAD's developmental test wing, said at the time in a statement. 'Any resource that provides fuel airborne is going to be invaluable to all assets that are flying.' VX-30's inventory is also set to evolve in other ways with the impending retirement of its P-3 Orion range support aircraft. A pair of P-8A Poseidon test aircraft will be modified to allow them to fill the resulting gap, hopefully starting in 2026. The Navy has spent the past few years steadily withdrawing the P-3 from service. 'T-1, the airworthiness P-8 aircraft, will have a radar modification to integrate an APY-10 in the airframe, as one does not currently exist. This will provide T-1 with a supportable radar configuration and capability that mirrors the baseline P-8 fleet,' the NAVAIR spokesperson told TWZ. 'T-2 will be unmodified. Both aircraft will perform the Range Surveillance & Clearance mission as well as dedicated testing for Naval Air Systems Command programs supported by P-3 today.' 'The two P-8s will reduce sustainment costs and increase availability over the four P-3 aircraft VX-30 currently flies. P-8s also help alleviate P-3 manning challenges now that the FRS and operational squadrons have all transitioned to P-8 or decommissioned,' the spokesperson added. 'P-3 aircraft require a Flight Engineer crew position, and as the P-3 model manager, the return on time invested to train incoming pilots or qualify Flight Engineers in the P-3 is rapidly diminishing for VX-30's primary missions. P-8 will go a long way to enabling range support operations and will provide new opportunities for future developmental programs.' In the meantime, VX-30 is already getting an important boost in its ability to support missile and other testing with the addition of Starlink to its KC-130Ts. Contact the author: joe@
