Martin Streetly/LONDON
By the time the Lockheed C-130J transport aircraft enters production in 1996, the Hercules will have been in service for 40 years. Its longevity is matched by the diversity of roles it has been called on to perform, not the least of which is that of the electronic "special-mission" platform.
Even within this highly specialised category, role diversity is a feature, with an as-yet unknown number of C-130 variants being configured for tasks such as radio relay, communications and radar jamming, airborne command and control, electronic reconnaissance, psychological warfare, radar surveillance and airborne early warning (AEW).
As might be expected, many of these applications have been restricted to the US military, a situation, which the ending of the Cold War and the emergence of a fourth generation C-130 looks likely to change. When the C-130's reputation for reliability and its widespread utilisation are combined, with the commercial availability of increasingly sophisticated electronic-mission systems and a vibrant market for surveillance aircraft, there can be little doubt that the list of curiously named Hercules variants, will continue to grow in the last years, of the 20th century.
The oldest of these is the US Air Force's EC-130E airborne command-and-control centre (ABCCC) aircraft. Work on what was then known as the C-130E-11 Hercules began in 1964, when E-Systems produced a prototype "roll-on/roll-off" ABCCC shelter which could be installed in the cargo bay of a modified C-130. Following successful trials, the company was contracted to build the first six of ten production units during 1966, five of which were completed by the following year.
As delivered the 9,000kg USC-15 shelter housed 16 operators and incorporated four high-frequency (HF), four very-high-frequency (VHF), eight ultra-high-frequency (UHF) and four frequency-modulated transceivers, a secure teletype system and automatic radio-relay equipment. While primarily an airborne system, the USC-15 shelter was also designed to be able to function as an autonomous ground station.
First used in South-East Asia, eight of the original ten EC-130E ABCCC aircraft remain in service with the 7th Airborne Command & Control Squadron, 355th Wing, USAF Air Combat Command. Over time, these aircraft have been upgraded, with the latest standard incorporating the computerised third-generation 15-man ABCCC III shelter. Additionally, at least five aircraft have been re-engine with Allison T56-A-15 turboprops. Thus modified (together with the introduction of an in-flight refueling capability), such aircraft are known as EC-130Hs. Missions undertaken by the ABCCC Hercules are said to include "on-scene" command and control for special-forces operations, co-ordination of close air support and interdiction missions and, curiously, air-to-air refuelling.
SURVIVORS
Three other survivors of the 1970s are the psychological warfare EC-130E "Rivet Rider/Volant Solo/Command Solo" aircraft and the "Comfi Levi" and "Pacer Coin" intelligence-gathering platforms. Taking these in the order given, the Pennsylvania Air National Guard's four Lockheed Aircraft Service Company (LAS)-developed Commando Solo (the previous Rivet Rider and Volant Solo designations, having now been superseded) aircraft, are radio and TV broadcast stations, which can generate medium/HF radio (in both civilian and military formats) and VHF/UHF TV outputs. In addition, the Commando Solo can also be used for jamming and/or radio relay. Such aircraft are operated by a flight crew of five and a team of at least six systems operators and linguists. Unconfirmed sources suggest that, in its primary "psywar" role, the Commando Solo can be used to handle pre-recorded cassette, reel-to-reel and video tapes, re-broadcast signals from ground stations and has eight live radio broadcast microphones.
As delivered the Rivet Rider had TV capability to US broadcast standards, which restricted its use geographically. Starting in the late 1980s/early 1990s, LAS has upgraded the system so that it can now produce a multi-format colour output which can be received in any part of the global TV network. As of September 1992, one aircraft had been upgraded to this standard with a second going through the modification process. The Commando Solo was deployed in support of the US invasions of Grenada and Panama in the 1980s and was active during Operation Desert Storm. Today, the Commando-Solo capability forms an integral part of the USA's tri-service command and control warfare (C2W) doctrine.
LAS describes the C-130E-based intelligence-gathering Pacer Coin system, as being a "multi-sensor, high-resolution imagery-collection platform". According to one source, the Pacer Coin was a Cold War system, which has subsequently been used by US Southern Command to monitor activity in the Caribbean and Latin America. It is suggested that the company has upgraded two of these aircraft with air-conditioning systems and global-positioning-system receivers during the early 1990s.
The Comfi Levi is yet another LAS-developed system, which is also used alongside the Pennsylvania Air National Guard's Command Solo platforms within the 193rd Special Operations Squadron (SOS) at Harrisburg International Airport. The Comfi Levi- capability centres on a "roll-on/roll-off" signal intelligence (SIGINT) collection system shelter which is installed in a modified C-130E. When mission-ready, such aircraft have an array of "clip-on" antennae, which are removed when the capability was not in use. A total of four Comfi Levi aircraft, is known to have been produced.
SENIOR SCOUT
The roll-on/roll-off mission-system concept is also a feature of LAS' latest publicised C-130 SIGINT aircraft, the "Senior Scout" data-collection and processing system (DCPS) shelter, which is reported to house up to 12 operators (plus a relief crew of three) and can be installed in a suitably modified C-130E or H aircraft in about 10h. The system provides a modular, distributed, computer-managed COMINT subsystem (thought to cover the 8KHz VHF frequency range) together with a fully automated 2-18GHz ELINT capability. An "extensive" voice and data communications suite is incorporated to provide a "real-time reporting and mission command and control" capability.
Again, like the Comfi Levi, the Senior Scout makes use of demountable antenna arrays, which are described as consisting of units which fit on the aircraft's main landing-gear and parachute doors, its main- gear sponson deflector plates and on the tail. The tail units are described as being of "scimitar format". Senior Scout aircraft were originally part of the active US Air Force, but the service's current reductions has caused them to be transferred to the Air National Guard. In this context, LAS notes that, during September 1992, the company was preparing six Senior Scouts for use by the Air Guard. To maintain the system's upgrade programme and during Desert Storm, the US Marine Corps operated one such aircraft, code-named Senior Warrior.
Alongside the Senior Scout, the USAF makes use of at least one other classified C-130 collection platform, code-named "Senior Troop". All that is known about this aircraft is that it is considered to be one of the USAF's six primary electronic-intelligence-gathering assets, and that California Microwave appears to be the prime contractor on the programme.
Outside the USA, the mid-1980s, saw the Royal Air Force outfit six of its C-130s, with the Racal Radar Defence Systems MIR-2, electronic-support-measures receiver system. Code-named "Orange Blossom", this installation incorporates wingtip antenna pods together with a dedicated operator station. Subsequently, the Orange Blossom system has been pressed into service as a threat warner, aircraft of this type served in Desert Storm and have been active in the continuing UN operations in Bosnia. There are also two putative EC-130Hs, which have been operated for at least a decade by the Egyptian air force. While usually credited with either an ELINT or a counter-measures role, the precise tasking of these aircraft remains unclear.
C3CM AIRCRAFT
In the offensive electronic-warfare field, the 1980s saw the emergence of the USAF's only currently operational tactical command, control and communications countermeasures (C3CM) aircraft, the EC-130H "Rivet Fire/Compass Call" aircraft. Conceived in the late 1970s, the Compass Call (the Rivet Fire designator having been dropped) is operated by a crew of 12 or 13 and is capable of providing jamming support for both tactical air and ground operations. According to USAF data, the aircraft is air-refuelable, has a maximum speed of 260kt (485km/h), a ceiling of 30,000ft (8,200m) and an unrefueled range and duration of 5,550km (3,000nm) and 10h, respectively. The USAF's ten Compass Call aircraft are operated by Air Combat Command's Davis Monthan-based 355th Wing and have been used in combat in Panama and during Desert Storm. During this latter operation, eight aircraft were deployed, with two in the air at all times.
According to LAS, initial operating capability of the Compass Call system was achieved 33 months after receipt of the development contract. Eight of the aircraft are now being upgraded, in a process which, according to non-company sources, involves the provision of additional computing power, the introduction of a fibre-optic communications ring within the aircraft and improvements to the system's signal acquisition, processing and jamming capabilities.
SPECIAL FORCES TRANSPORT
Alongside the Compass Call, the USAF has added stand off jamming as a secondary role for its four MC-130E Combat Talon I/Rivet Clamp special forces transport aircraft, now based in the USA and the Pacific. LAS, describes the Rivet Clamp electronic-warfare installation, as having "...led the way for significant electronic-countermeasures modifications to the Combat Talon 1 fleet as a whole". Although such an installation has not been confirmed, there is a widespread belief that the ALQ-1729(V) automatic, power-managed, software-reprogrammable radar jamming system is included in the mission suite used in these aircraft.
Identified operational radar surveillance C-130 applications consist of provision for an APS-135 side-looking radar (SLAR) on some of the US Coast Guard's fleet of 30-plus HC-130H search-and-rescue aircraft together with an as yet unidentified SLAR installed on one Moroccan air force C-130H. This latter application was originally acquired to provide a surveillance capability against Polisario guerrilla activity in the Western Sahara.
Bearing in mind the C-130's versatility, it is curious that the one area in which it has not succeeded is in that of an AEW platform, despite Lockheed's best efforts to promote the type's suitability for the role. Even more oddly, the one AEW Hercules, which has so far emerged (the EC-130V), was developed by the then General Dynamics, rather than by Lockheed.
The EC-130V, which was delivered to the US Coast Guard in November 1991, was converted from an existing HC-130H airframe. Budgetary considerations forced the EC-130V's withdrawal from service during April 1993.
Source: Flight International
