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        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders   B-roll of HC-130J Combat King II. (U.S. Air Force)
                
                
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        HC-130JAn Airman with the 71st Rescue Squadron waves a flag out of an HC-130J Combat King II during a redeployment June 11, 2020, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The 71st RQS returned from a deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, providing combat search and rescue for joint operations. The 71st RQS provides deployable personnel recovery forces to theater commanders for contingency and crisis response operations worldwide. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Erick Requadt)
                
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        HC-130JA U.S. Air Force HC-130J Combat King II sits on the flight line at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, Oct. 31, 2019. The HC-130J is the only dedicated fixed-wing Personnel Recovery platform in the Air Force inventory. Its mission is to rapidly deploy to execute combatant commander directed recovery operations to austere airfields and denied territory for expeditionary, all weather personnel recovery operations to include airdrop, airland, helicopter air-to-air refueling, and forward area ground refueling missions. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Cheyenne A. Powers)
                
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        110919-F-PB123-001The HC-130J can fly in the day; however, crews normally fly night at low to medium altitude levels in contested or sensitive environments, both over land or overwater. Crews use NVGs for tactical flight profiles to avoid detection to accomplish covert infiltration/exfiltration and transload operations.
                
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        HC-130JA U.S. Air National Guard HC-130J Combat King II, assigned to the 211th Rescue Squadron, from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, prepares to land onto a dirt runway after a Combat Search and Rescue training exercise (CSAR) during Red Flag-Rescue 19-1, near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, on May. 9, 2019. Red Flag-Rescue gives joint service personnel an opportunity to build fundamental combat search and rescue skills to fight in and out of contested environments. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Xavier Navarro)
                
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 HC-130J Combat King II**Mission**
The HC-130J replaces HC-130P/Ns as the only dedicated fixed-wing Personnel Recovery platform in the Air Force inventory. It is an extended-range version of the C-130J Hercules transport. Its mission is to rapidly deploy to execute combatant commander directed recovery operations to austere airfields and denied territory for expeditionary, all weather personnel recovery operations to include airdrop, airland, helicopter air-to-air refueling, and forward area ground refueling missions. When tasked, the aircraft also conducts humanitarian assistance operations, disaster response, security cooperation/aviation advisory, emergency aeromedical evacuation, and noncombatant evacuation operations.**Features**
Modifications to the HC-130J have improved navigation, threat detection and countermeasures systems. The aircraft fleet has a fully-integrated inertial navigation and global positioning systems, and night vision goggle, or NVG, compatible interior and exterior lighting. It also has forward-looking infrared, radar and missile warning receivers, chaff and flare dispensers, satellite and data-burst communications, and the ability to receive fuel inflight via a Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI).
The HC-130J can fly in the day; however, crews normally fly night at low to medium altitude levels in contested or sensitive environments, both over land or overwater. Crews use NVGs for tactical flight profiles to avoid detection to accomplish covert infiltration/exfiltration and transload operations. To enhance the probability of mission success and survivability near populated areas, crews employ tactics that include incorporating no external lighting or communications, and avoiding radar and weapons detection.
Drop zone objectives are done via personnel drops and equipment drops. Rescue bundles include illumination flares, marker smokes and rescue kits. Helicopter air-to-air refueling can be conducted at night, with blacked out communication with up to two simultaneous helicopters. Additionally, forward area refueling point operations can be executed to support a variety of joint and coalition partners.HC-130JA U.S. Air Force HC-130J Combat King ll flies over Malemute Drop Zone during 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron airborne training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, June 24, 2020. The 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron Airmen conducted the airborne training to maintain operational readiness. The focus on readiness demonstrates the installation’s resiliency and posture for the future throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jonathan Valdes Montijo)
            
            
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    HC-130JAirmen and equipment from the 334th Air Expeditionary Group arrived at Joint Base Charleston aboard HC-130J Combat King II aircraft and HH-60G Pave Hawks from Moody Air Force Base, Sept. 15, 2018. The 344th AEG are being pre-positioned to be ready to provide relief in the wake of tropical storm Florence. The 334th AEG is an expeditionary search and rescue unit comprised of 23d Wing and 920th Rescue Wing personnel and assets ready to perform surface, fixed wing and rotary SAR operations when needed. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Technical Sgt. Kelly Goonan)
            
            
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    HC-130JU.S. Air Force Airmen load equipment on a HC-130J Combat King from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., Aug. 10, 2017. The HC-130 was part of Stealth Guardian, an exercise with the goal of integrating 5th-generation and rescue assets for rapid real-world applications. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Cody R. Miller/Released)
            
            
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**Background**
The HC-130J is a result of the HC/MC-130 recapitalization program and replaces Air Combat Command's aging HC-130P/N fleet as the dedicated fixed-wing personnel recovery platform in the Air Force inventory. The 71st and 79th Rescue Squadrons in Air Combat Command, the 550th Special Operations Squadron in Air Education and Training Command, the 920th Rescue Group in Air Force Reserve Command and the 106th Rescue Wing, 129th RQW and 176th Wing in the Air National Guard will operate the aircraft.
First flight was 29 July 2010, and the aircraft will serve the many roles and missions of the HC-130P/Ns. It is a modified KC-130J aircraft designed to conduct personnel recovery missions, provide a command and control platform, in-flight-refuel helicopters and carry supplemental fuel for extending range or air refueling.
In April 2006, the personnel recovery mission was transferred back to Air Combat Command at Langley AFB, Va. From 2003 to 2006, the mission was under the Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Previously, HC-130s were assigned to ACC from 1992 to 2003. They were first assigned to the Air Rescue Service as part of Military Airlift Command.**General Characteristics
Primary function:** Fixed-wing Personnel Recovery platform**Contractor:** Lockheed Aircraft Corp.**Power Plant:**Four Rolls Royce AE2100D3 turboprop engines**Thrust:**4,591 Propeller Shaft Horsepower, each engine**Wingspan:**132 feet, 7 inches (40.4 meters)**Length:**97 feet, 9 inches (29.57 meters)**Height:**38 feet, 9 inches (11.58 meters)**Operating Weight:**89,000 pounds (40,369 kilograms)**Maximum Takeoff Weight:**164,000 pounds (74,389 kilograms)**Fuel Capacity:**61,360 pounds (9,024 gallons)**Payload:**35,000 pounds (15,875 kilograms)**Speed:**316 knots indicated air speed at sea level**Range:** beyond 4,000 miles (3,478 nautical miles)**Ceiling:**33,000 feet (10,000 meters)**Armament:**countermeasures/flares, chaff**Basic Crew:**Three officers (pilot, co-pilot, combat system officer) and two enlisted loadmasters**Unit Cost:**$66 million (fiscal 2010 replacement cost)**Initial operating capability:**2013
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