WC-130J Hercules
The WC-130J Hercules is a special weather reconnaissance version of the new Lockheed Martin C-130J cargo plane. Its mission is to fly into the eye of hurricanes to retrieve critical information about active storms. The Air Force Reserve Command's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, MS, a component of the 403rd Wing, is the only unit in the Department of Defense that flies this mission.
The Air Force took delivery of its first WC-130J aircraft 12 October 1999. The aircraft is assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Six others were delivered to the base in 1999, and three more in 2000. The WC-130J Hercules is a special weather reconnaissance version of the new Lockheed Martin C-130J cargo plane. Its mission is to fly into the eye of hurricanes to retrieve critical information about active storms. The 53rd WRS, a component of the 403rd Wing, is the only unit in the Department of Defense that flies this mission.
The WC-130J program is managed by the C-130J Development System Office. In September 1998 the C-130J DSO signed a contract with Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, Marietta, Ga., to modify six C-130Js to the "W," or weather, configuration. This involved installing and integrating special avionics and weather sensors, as well as making structural modifications. The DSO later exercised contract options to modify an additional four C-130J aircraft. The contract to modify all ten aircraft is valued at $62.9 million.
The crew for the basic C-130J is two pilots and a loadmaster. The weather birds also carry a navigator, meteorologist and dropsonde operator. Dropsondes are instruments that are dropped from the aircraft with a parachute that float through a storm, gathering real-time weather data and relaying it back to the aircraft.
The WC-130Js replaced the squadron's fleet of ten WC-130H-model aircraft. The C-130J's Allison AE2100D3 engines generate 29 percent more thrust and increase fuel efficiency by 15 percent over the older models, while bringing the aircraft to a cruising altitude of 28,000 feet in 14 minutes. Standard C-130J "glass cockpit" avionics and computer software automate many tasks, allowing crewmembers to spend more time on the mission. Sensors mounted on the outside of WC-130Js provide real-time temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, radar-measured altitude, wind speed and direction. These are used to calculate a complete weather observation every 30 seconds. These aircraft also deploy dropsondes, instruments ejected out the aircraft and deployed by parachute through the storm to the sea. During descent, they gather real-time weather data and relay it back to the aircraft. This information is transmitted by satellite directly to the National Hurricane Center for input into the national weather data networks. Forecasters use the data to better predict the path of a storm or hurricane.
Four major issues confront the weather reconnaissance aircraft according to the DOT&E. The radar cannot perform the hurricane reconnaissancemission, continuous satellite communication is not achieved, there is propeller delamination, and there is excessive vibration in the auxiliary crew member’s station.
The low-power color radar was designed as a weather avoidance radar, but it was installed in the WC-130J to perform the weather penetration mission. The radar does not support operational requirements for the weather mission. The program office has developed a plan to correct this deficiency. Additional software modification tests were planned for late 2003 (storm season), but testing was not accomplished due to software deficiencies. Hardware modifications will be tested approximately 26 months after the contract is awarded. Initial operational capability may be no sooner than FY06. Since the WC-130J cannot perform its primary mission, the correction of this deficiency is critical. The secondary impact is that the ten older WC-130H models that currently perform the mission were to be converted to aerial refueling tankers and transferred to Air Combat Command. That will not occur until the WC-130J is fully operational.
A proposed fix to the propeller delamination problem has been installed on test aircraft. Data are currently being collected by the Air Force Reserves. The fix must be tested in a hurricane environment.
