The US Navy (USN) has revealed the name of its newest aircraft, a secretive communications platform able to remotely command the service’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Known as the “Take Charge and Move Out” (TACAMO) fleet, the specialised aircraft will house communications equipment capable of connecting the US president and secretary of defense with the navy’s fleet of nuclear-armed missile submarines.

That role is currently filled by the Boeing E-6B Mercury, a derivative of the 707-300 airliner.

C-130J

Source: Crown Copyright

The forthcoming deployment of the E-130J marks a return of the C-130 transport to the US Navy’s so-called “Take Charge and Move Out” mission providing remote access to submarine-launched nuclear missiles

Those aircraft are operated by the land-based Strategic Communications Wing 1, which says its mission is to “receive, verify and retransmit Emergency Action Messages to US strategic forces”.

In the future, those aviators will carry out that mission in the E-6B replacement, now officially called “Phoenix II”.

The announcement of that name on 8 August follows the 2024 reveal of the new TACAMO fleet’s formal designation – the E-130J.

The US Naval Air Systems Command says the choice of Phoenix, a mythical bird with the ability to be reborn after death, nods to a previous TACAMO platform based on the Lockheed C-130 transport.

That aircraft, the EC-130Q, served as the navy’s TACAMO aircraft from 1963 to 1993, before being replaced by the E-6.

“A phoenix is known for its resilience, exceptionally long lifespan and its ability to transform and continue its purpose,” says Captain Roger Davis, programme manager for the USN’s airborne strategic communications procurement office.

E-6B US Navy Tacamo

Source: US Navy

The US Navy operates 16 E-6Bs, which it plans to replace with an undisclosed number of E-130Js

Davis says the new aircraft will transform the TACAMO mission, calling it a “new weapon system with unmatched survivability and longevity”.

While the Phoenix II will be based on a Lockheed aircraft, Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the TACAMO recapitalisation under a $3.5 billion deal awarded in 2024.

The navy has not yet specified how many E-130Js it plans to field. The service operates 16 E-6Bs for the TACAMO mission.

The E-130J will become the latest variant of Lockheed’s C-130, which the manufacturer says already comes in 17 speciality versions, including numerous military missions, a firefighting water bomber and a commercial freighter.

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