The US Navy awarded aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin a $62 million contract to upgrade its Super Hercules C-130J-30 cargo plane for the E-XX TACAMO (TACAMO meaning “Take Charge Or Move Out”) program’s nuclear missions. 

The E-XX TACAMO program initiative, responsible for relaying orders from the President to submarines carrying nuclear weapons, demands a highly adaptable and reliable aircraft, a significant factor in the Navy’s decision to choose Lockheed Martin.

The Navy’s choice of Lockheed Martin’s Super Hercules  C-130J-30 showcases the cargo plane as the core of their next-generation nuclear command, control, and communications aircraft, highlighting the aerospace giant’s engineering and military technology expertise. US Navy’s Strategic Command chief Admiral Charles Richard  in his earlier statements in a media briefing last January 2021, stated that the Navy “is making a great decision to go to the C-130” and that the naval forces are “fully capable of supporting my mission requirements to ensure survivable communications to the ballistic missile submarines.”

Super Hercules 

Super Hercules C-130J-30/Flickr
Super Hercules C-130J-30/Flickr