Marietta – October 16, 2026 -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) delivered the first C-130J-30 Super Hercules for the U.S. Navy's Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) mission on Oct. 15 at its Marietta, Georgia, facility. The aircraft will be modified into the E-130J Phoenix II, the Navy's next-generation airborne nuclear command-and-control platform.
Northrop Grumman to complete the E-130J conversion as mission systems integrator
The airframe will be transferred to Northrop Grumman, the mission systems integrator. The E-130J TACAMO industry team will then complete the conversion before the aircraft enters service as the E-130J Phoenix II.
Capt. Roger Davis, program manager for Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications (PMA-271), said the Navy now moves into mission systems integration. He described the delivered airframe as the structural and performance backbone for the mission.
Four-engine Super Hercules replaces the EC-130Q lineage in the TACAMO role
The C-130J-30 gives the Navy a domestically produced, long-endurance, four-engine platform. Lockheed Martin cites advanced avionics, increased power, greater range, fuel efficiency and payload capacity as the attributes the mission demands.
The delivery re-establishes the link between TACAMO and the Hercules family. The EC-130Q variant served as the Navy's TACAMO platform from 1963 until 1993. The new aircraft adds advanced avionics, communications and survivability enhancements to that legacy.
Lockheed Martin extends the C-130J into a 20th-plus mission set
Trish Pagan, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Air Mobility & Maritime Missions, called the delivery a historic milestone for the Navy and the nation's strategic communications network. The company says the C-130J is certified across 20 mission sets, including airdrop, search and rescue, firefighting, medevac, ISR and special operations. Its global fleet exceeds 570 aircraft.