{ "archive_path": "archive/1792404344.880687", "base_url": "www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered", "basename": "first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered", "bookmarked_date": "2026-10-19 10:05", "canonical": { "archive_org_path": "https://web.archive.org/web/www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered", "dom_path": "output.html", "favicon_path": "favicon.ico", "git_path": "git/", "google_favicon_path": "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com", "headers_path": "headers.json", "htmltotext_path": "htmltotext.txt", "index_path": "index.html", "media_path": "media/", "mercury_path": "mercury/content.html", "pdf_path": "output.pdf", "readability_path": "readability/content.html", "screenshot_path": "screenshot.png", "singlefile_path": "singlefile.html", "warc_path": "warc/", "wget_path": "www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered.html" }, "domain": "www.twz.com", "extension": "", "hash": "1F9NYJW5MBVY9WDN53BW", "history": { "archive_org": [], "dom": [], "favicon": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--output", "favicon.ico", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-10-19T16:30:55.804102+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "favicon.ico", "pwd": "/data/archive/1792404344.880687", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-19T16:30:55.256714+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "git": [], "headers": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--head", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-10-19T16:30:56.144171+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "headers.json", "pwd": "/data/archive/1792404344.880687", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-19T16:30:55.813799+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "htmltotext": [], "media": [], "mercury": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js", "https://www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered" ], "cmd_version": "1.0.0", "end_ts": "2026-10-19T16:31:45.753539+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "mercury", "pwd": "/data/archive/1792404344.880687", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-19T16:31:42.198433+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "pdf": [], "readability": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor", "/tmp/tmpovhgapj8", "https://www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered" ], "cmd_version": "0.0.11", "end_ts": "2026-10-19T16:31:42.187297+00:00", "index_texts": [ "The U.S. Navy has taken delivery of the first C-130J-30 Hercules airframe destined to become an E-130J Phoenix II, the service\u2019s next-generation aircraft for maintaining communications with its nuclear ballistic submarines. The aircraft will now undergo extensive mission-systems integration before it can begin testing for the Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) mission.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe @USNavy's future TACAMO aircraft is here. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8The C-130J-30 Super Hercules keeps strategic command and control connected when it matters most.Four engines. Long endurance. Proven reliability. pic.twitter.com/huX0qlzKkm\u2014 Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) October 16, 2026\n\n\n\n\n\nLockheed Martin handed over the newly built aircraft at its facility in Marietta, Georgia, on October 15. The delivery marks the start of the transition from the Navy\u2019s aging E-6B Mercury fleet to the turboprop-powered E-130J, which is intended to provide a survivable communications link between national leadership and U.S. Navy nuclear ballistic missile submarines, including the ability to send them orders to launch strikes while they are submerged.\n\n\n\nAn E-6B Mercury assigned to the Strategic Communications Wing 1 at Tinker Air Force Base approaches a tanker during an aerial refueling mission over Oregon, Feb. 28, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Megan Delaine \n\n\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s delivery from the historic Marietta line represents far more than a new airframe; it marks the foundation of our future strategic deterrence posture,\u201d Capt. Roger Davis, program manager for the Navy\u2019s Airborne Strategic Command, Control, and Communications program office (PMA-271), said in a statement.\n\n\n\n\u201cThrough our close partnership with Lockheed Martin and our industry team, we are ensuring our nation maintains an unshakeable communications lifeline to our ballistic missile submarine fleet.\u201d\n\n\n\nCapt. Roger Davis, left, Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications program manager (PMA-271), presents a ceremonial key to Capt. David Gardner, commodore of Strategic Communications Wing 1 (SCW 1), during the C-130J-30 delivery ceremony Oct. 15, 2026 in Marietta, Georgia. Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin by Thinh D. Nguyen \n\n\n\nThe aircraft is the first of three C-130J-30s initially procured by the Navy in September 2024. It will be transferred to Northrop Grumman, the E-130J program\u2019s prime contractor and mission-systems integrator, for conversion. Collins Aerospace is providing the very low frequency (VLF) communications system, a key component of the TACAMO mission.\n\n\n\nTACAMO aircraft provide a means for the president, secretary of defense, and U.S. Strategic Command to communicate with nuclear forces, including submarines submerged at sea. The mission is designed to preserve the ability to transmit emergency action messages even if conventional communications infrastructure is disrupted or destroyed.\n\n\n\nThe E-6B accomplishes this in part through a long, trailing wire antenna that enables VLF transmissions to submerged submarines. The E-130J will receive a comparable system as part of its conversion.\n\n\n\nHardening against the effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP), which occurs during the detonation of nuclear warheads, is another key requirement for these planes.\n\n\n\nThe first C-130J-30 being built by Lockheed Martin Corp. for the E-130J program. Photo by David L. Key, Lockheed Martin \n\n\n\nThe Navy plans to acquire 31 E-130Js, nearly doubling the 16 E-6Bs currently in service. That total includes six developmental aircraft and 25 production examples, although it remains unclear how many of the developmental aircraft will ultimately be available for operational use.\n\n\n\nThe larger planned fleet should provide additional aircraft to support training, maintenance, and operational demands. However, the transition also brings technical challenges. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has previously warned that integrating the specialized mission equipment into the smaller C-130J-30 airframe could affect operational availability and create additional engineering and manufacturing difficulties.\n\n\n\nRendering of the future E-130J aircraft. Courtesy of Northrop Grumman Corp. \n\n\n\nIn the past, TWZ has discussed the potential operational readiness and other trade-offs that could come from selecting a C-130-based platform to replace the E-6B in the TACAMO role. As we wrote previously:\n\n\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s certainly worth pointing out that the E-6Bs, conversions of what were some of the last and most modern 707 airliners built, were larger and higher performance platforms than the EC-130Qs. The C-130J-30 is certainly a more capable aircraft than the C-130H on which the EC-130Q was based, but it won\u2019t have the base speed and altitude capabilities of an airliner-sized multi-engine jet. Compared to the Mercuries, any TACAMO-configured C-130J-30 would not be able to get on station as quickly, or fly as high, limiting its ability to get above bad weather or establish a better line of sight for its communications systems.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cAt the same time, as the Navy itself has noted, the C-130J-30 platform does immediately open up the ability to use a larger number of air bases, airports, and airfields, including austere ones that the E-6B cannot operate from. This could be very useful in a contingency scenario where an opponent may have destroyed or otherwise rendered unusable many well-established bases, as well as larger secondary dispersal sites, which include large commercial airports. Being able to fly from smaller, tertiary locations could help to ensure that the TACAMO mission continues without significant disruption under such circumstances. This is also true during peacetime, as targeting the TACAMOs on the ground would be much harder if they could easily operate from and sit alert at a much larger number of airports.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cA C-130J-30 configured for the TACAMO mission would certainly have a mid-air refueling capability, and the Hercules is already a platform that has demonstrated the ability to loiter over particular areas for long periods of time. Unlike the Boeing 707, the C-130J is still in production, as well, meaning that TACAMO aircraft based on this plane would be inherently easier to maintain and support logistically, and may also be easier to convert to this specialized configuration to begin with. As time goes on, the J looks set to increasingly become the default base C-130 model across the U.S. military, as well. Compared to the long out-of-production 707-based E-6, support for the C-130J is already distributed across the U.S. and beyond. Training C-130J crews is even an easier proposition.\u201d\n\n\n\nThe E-130J also represents a return to the Hercules family for the Navy\u2019s TACAMO mission. The EC-130Q performed the role from 1963 to 1993, before the E-6A Mercury took over. The E-6B subsequently added an airborne command post mission known as Looking Glass, supporting U.S. strategic forces beyond the submarine communications role.\n\n\n\nThe US Navy operated a fleet of EC-130Q TACAMO aircraft like the one seen here before the arrival of the E-6As. U.S. Navy \n\n\n\nThe Navy\u2019s current plan is for the E-130J to assume the TACAMO mission, while the Air Force pursues a separate effort to replace the Looking Glass airborne command post capability.\n\n\n\nFollowing its delivery, the first E-130J airframe will enter mission-systems modification, ground testing, and developmental flight testing. The aircraft is not yet an operational TACAMO platform, and further integration and testing will be required before the Navy can begin fielding the new fleet.\n\n\n\nThe transition is intended to preserve one of the most critical links in the U.S. nuclear command, control, and communications architecture as the E-6B fleet becomes increasingly difficult to sustain.\n\n\n\nContact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com" ], "output": "readability", "pwd": "/data/archive/1792404344.880687", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-19T16:31:39.856284+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-10-19T16:31:39.847325+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "First C-130J For Navy\u2019s New E-130J Phoenix II Ballistic Submarine Communications Fleet Delivered", "pwd": "/data/archive/1792404344.880687", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-19T16:31:39.794447+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [ { "cmd": [ "wget", "--no-verbose", "--adjust-extension", "--convert-links", "--force-directories", "--span-hosts", "--no-parent", "-e", "robots=off", "--reject=js,mjs,woff,woff2,ttf,otf,eot,mp4,m4v,mov,webm,ogv,mkv,avi,flv", "--timeout=120", "--restrict-file-names=windows", "--page-requisites", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) wget/GNU Wget 1.21.3", "--compression=auto", "--timestamping", "https://www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered" ], "cmd_version": "GNU Wget 1.21.3", "end_ts": "2026-10-19T16:31:39.784961+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered.html", "pwd": "/data/archive/1792404344.880687", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-19T16:30:56.154151+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": null, "dom": null, "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": null, "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "First C-130J For Navy\u2019s New E-130J Phoenix II Ballistic Submarine Communications Fleet Delivered", "warc": null, "wget": "www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered.html" }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1792404344.880687", "newest_archive_date": "2026-10-19T16:31:42.198433+00:00", "num_failures": 0, "num_outputs": 6, "oldest_archive_date": "2026-10-19T16:30:55.256714+00:00", "path": "/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_id": "7804847f-e7e6-4146-84dd-0d8f87570759", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1792404344-import.txt" ], "tags": ",war-wiki,pool,war_movement", "tags_str": "war-wiki,pool,war_movement", "timestamp": "1792404344.880687", "title": "First C-130J For Navy\u2019s New E-130J Phoenix II Ballistic Submarine Communications Fleet Delivered", "updated": "2026-10-19T16:30:55.256507+00:00", "updated_date": "2026-10-19 16:30", "url": "https://www.twz.com/air/first-c-130j-for-navys-new-e-130j-phoenix-ii-ballistic-submarine-communications-fleet-delivered" }