page_title: Lockheed MC-130
section_title: Eagle Claw
hierarchical_section_title: Lockheed MC-130 / MC-130E Combat Talon / Post-Vietnam developments / Eagle Claw
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command's 1st Special Operations Squadron Patch
context_page_description: The Lockheed MC-130 is the basic designation for a family of special mission aircraft operated by the United States Air Force Special Operations Command, a wing of the Air Education and Training Command, and an AFSOC-gained wing of the Air Force Reserve Command. Based on the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport, the MC-130s' missions are the infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply of special operations forces, and the air refueling of special operations helicopter and tilt-rotor aircraft.
  The family comprises:
  in service:
  MC-130H Combat Talon II
  MC-130J Commando II
  retired:
  MC-130E Combat Talon I
  MC-130P Combat Shadow
  MC-130W Combat/Dragon Spear
  A possible MC-130 variant, designated the XFC-130H, did not proceed beyond the development stage, but one of its aircraft became the YMC-130H testbed aircraft for the Combat Talon II.
  The first of the variants, the MC-130E, was developed to support clandestine special operations missions during the Vietnam War. Eighteen were created by modifying C-130E transports, and four lost through attrition, but the remainder served more than four decades after their initial modification.
context_section_description: Following the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, on November 4, 1979, training operations for a rescue mission of the 53 hostages began as early as November 7 by Talon crews at Kadena AB, and November 26 by crews at Hurlburt. At that time only seven Combat Talons had the in-flight refueling capability necessary for the mission, which was to be mounted out of either Egypt or Diego Garcia (Masirah Island did not become available as a base until April 1980). All were assigned to the operation, a complex two-night plan called Eagle Claw. Talon crews using night vision goggles practiced blacked-out landings to insert Delta Force operators and U.S. Army Rangers deep into Iran, and developed several methods for delivering extra fuel for the US Navy RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters chosen to carry out the rescued hostages. Four transcontinental, all-component, two-night rehearsals were held between December 1979 and March 1980, including a full-scale rehearsal March 25–26 that involved every element of the final plan except three EC-130s chosen to fly in fuel for the helicopters.
  The four Talons (including a spare) of the 1st SOS staged to Masirah Island off the coast of Oman on April 19, 1980, to lead the Night One infiltration phase, while the three of the 8th SOS deployed to Wadi Qena, Egypt, on April 21 to lead the Night Two exfiltration phase. To establish a "normal" C-130 presence in Egypt, Talons of the 7th SOS (none of which had aerial refueling capability)  conducted regular flights using Military Airlift Command call signs in and out of Wadi Qena between January 2 and April 8, 1980. They also used the deception to discreetly pre-position needed equipment, including ammunition for AC-130 gunships, at the staging base. The Talon crews also manned three borrowed EC-130E ABCCC aircraft configured to carry 68,100 L (18,000 U.S. gal) of jet fuel in six collapsible bladders for refueling the helicopters. After returning to Masirah, three of the 8th SOS Night One crews would be flown to Wadi Qena to carry out the Night Two mission.
  The first phase of the rescue mission began the evening of April 24, led by Lt Col Robert L. Brenci of the 8th SOS in Talon 64-0565, Dragon 1.  The 1st SOS Talons successfully secured the forward operating location ("Desert One") in the Iranian Desert, but the helicopter portion of the mission ended in disaster. Although the mission was an embarrassing failure costing eight lives, seven helicopters, and an EC-130E aircraft in a ground accident, the MC-130s performed nearly flawlessly. Planning initiatives for a second rescue attempt, under the project name Honey Badger, began two weeks after the failed raid and continued through November. Combat Talon participation in Honey Badger amounted largely to tactics development, but ECM improvements included chaff and flare dispensers and new ALR-69 threat receivers that improved its defensive countermeasures capability well beyond that existing prior to Eagle Claw.
caption: 1st Special Operations Squadron
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