bobdaley Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 From AF Magazine on line Air Force Buying 48 More Special-Mission C-130Js: The Air Force has added 48 MC-130J special operations aircraft to its HC/MC-130J recapitalization program of record, increasing the intended buy from 74 to 122 airframes. Thirty-two of the newly added MC-130Js will supplant Air Force Special Operations Command's MC-130H/W fleets, service officials told the Daily Report. The other 16 airframes will undergo post-production conversion to AC-130J gunships, they said. The plans for the original 74 HC/MC-130Js remain unchanged: Air Combat Command is acquiring 37 HC-130J combat rescue tankers to replace its 1960s-era HC-130P fleet, while AFSOC is getting 37 MC-130Js in order to retire its legacy MC-130E/P inventory. Because of the added 48 airframes, the projected costs of the HC/MC-130J program have gone up by more than 60 percent from $8.8 billion to $14.1, according to the Pentagon's most recent selected acquisition reports that went to Congress last month. Lets see: Current Fleet 37 HC130J to replace HC130P's 19 Active Duty 18ARF (inc 4 MC at Moffett) 37 MC130J to replace MC130E/P 23 Active Duty P 10 AFRC E 32 MC130J to Replace MC130H/W 32 Active Duty H/W 16 AC130J 8H and 16U Active Duty 122 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPTestFE Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Doesn't quite add up, does it? Well, I don't wanna hear any more crap about the AMP being expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railrunner130 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Two things- 1. Perhaps I'm dense, but it looks like it's at least a 1 for 1 swap. What am I missing? Or is AMPTestFE talking about the $$ involved? 2. Are they really looking to replace the latest MC-130Ws? They just got them. Quite frankly, it was a major loss to the slick fleet to give up those H2s to SOC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jansen Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 The 16 AC-130Js were previously announced. Current fleet: HC130P 36 MC130E 10 AFRC MC130P 23 Active Duty MC130H 20 MC130W 12 AC130H 8 AC130U 17 New fleet: 37 HC-130P, +1 69 MC-130J, +7 16 AC-130J, 17 AC-130U, 33 total, +8 Considering the EBH that these aircraft go through, and the fact that AFSOC wants the better performance of the J-model, I can understand the decision not to AMP them. I would guess that the MC-130Ws will be transfered somewhere and used by someone else. Then again, there is no timeline, so they might stay with them until they are used up. The current fiscal program for the MC-130J is: Prior 15 FY2011 5 FY2012 6 FY2013 6 FY2014 5 FY2016 4 Post 28 Total 69 The FY2016 aircraft won't be received until the beginning of 2019, to give you an idea. So the MC-130W could still be used by AFSOC for the next 15 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Herk Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 The FY2016 aircraft won't be received until the beginning of 2019, to give you an idea. So the MC-130W could still be used by AFSOC for the next 15 years. The MC-W was always a BAI-type acquisition once the decision not the turn them into MC-H happened. But last fishbones-type brief I saw had MC-H & MC-W hanging around until at LEAST 2019....probably longer. Regardless, I'll be long gone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.