Lockheed RC-130 Hercules

RC-130 Hercules
	A C-130 similar to this one, can be modified for reconnaissance
Role	Military reconnaissance aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Lockheed
First flight	1958
Primary user	United States Air Force
Produced	15
Developed from	Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The Lockheed RC-130 Hercules were variants of the C-130 Hercules, designed for photographic or electronic reconnaissance missions.^[1]

Operational history[]

A replica of 56-0528, a C-130A-II "Sun Valley" reconnaissance aircraft shot down over Armenia, Soviet Union, in 1958, on display at the National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, Maryland

On 2 September 1958, C-130A-II 56-0528 was shot down after it intruded into Soviet airspace during a reconnaissance mission along the Turkish-Armenian border.^[2]

Variants[]

C-130A-II: Electronics reconnaissance variant for use by , ten conversions from C-130A.^[1]
RC-130A: Photo reconnaissance variant, one converted from a TC-130A and 15 built new.^[1]
C-130B-II: Electronic reconnaissance variant, 15 converted from C-130B later designated RC-130B.^[1]
RC-130B: Re-designated from C-130B-II, all later converted back to C-130Bs.^[1]
RC-130S: Two JC-130A aircraft were modified with the Battlefield Illumination Airborne System (BIAS) for night search-and rescue missions with the 446th Tactical Airlift Wing.^[1]^[3]

Operators[]

United States

United States Air Force

Bibliography[]

Francillon, René. Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. London: Putnam, 1982. ISBN 0-370-30329-6.

[la1913-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Francillon 1982, p. 347-373

[2] "NSA PDF file" (PDF).

[Pike-3] Pike, John. "Battlefield Illumination Airborne System (BIAS)". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 14 September 2018.

[4] ttps://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-irans-air-force-still-flying-american-planes-19402

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t Lockheed C-130 Hercules
Basic versions	C-130A C-130E C-130H C-130J
Modified variants	AC-130 DC-130 EC-130E EC-130H EC-130J HC-130 KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 RC-130 WC-130
Civil variants	L-100 L-382
Related lists	Accidents and incidents Operators

v t United States military transport aircraft designations, Army/Air Force and Tri-Service systems
Army/Air Force sequence (1925-1962)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-8 C-9 C-10 C-11 C-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16 C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20 C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-28 C-29 C-30 C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34 C-35 C-36 C-37 C-38 C-39 C-40 C-41 A C-42 C-43 C-44 C-45 C-46 C-47 F T AC-47 C-48 C-49 C-50 C-51 C-52 C-53 C-54 C-55 C-56 C-57 C-58 C-59 C-60 C-61 C-62 C-63 C-64 C-65 C-66 C-67 C-68 C-69 C-70 B C-71 C-72 C-73 C-74 C-75 C-76 C-77 B-D C-78 C-79 C-80 C-81 C-82 C-83 A B C-84 C-85 C-86 C-87 C-88 C-89 C-90 C-91 C-92 C-93 C-94 C-95 C-96 C-97 KC-97 C-98 C-99 C-100 C-101 C-102 C-103 C-104 C-105 C-106 C-107 C-108 C-109 C-110 C-111 C-112 C-113 C-114 C-115 C-116 C-117 D C-118 C-119 AC-119 C-120 C-121 F C-122 C-123 A C-124 C-125 C-126 C-127 (I) C-127 (II) C-128 C-129 C-130 J AC-130 DC-130 EC-130/H HC-130 KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 WC-130 C-131 C-132 C-133 C-134 C-135 KC-135 C-136 C-137 C-138¹ C-139¹ C-140 C-141 C-142
Tri-service sequence (1962-present)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 B C-8 C-9 C-10 (I) C-10 (II) C-11 C-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16¹ C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20A-D F-H C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 J C-28 C-29 C-30¹ C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34¹ C-35 C-36 C-37A B C-38 C-39¹ C-40 C-41 C-42¹ C-43¹ C-44¹ C-45 C-46
Revived original sequence (2005-present)	C-143 C-144 C-145 C-146 C-147
Non-sequential designations	C-767 C-880
Related designations	CT-39 CT-43 CV-2 CV-7
¹ Not assigned

v t United States Air Force system numbers
100–199	100 101 P 102 103 104 105 106¹ 107 A-1 A-2 108¹ 109¹ 110 111¹ 112 113¹ 114¹ 115¹ 116¹ 117 M 118 A 119 C/F E T Y 120 121 122 123 124 125 127¹ 129 131 132 133 134¹ 136¹ 137¹ 138 139 140 141¹ 142 143–197¹ 199 B C D
200–299	200 201 A/L B/W E 202 203¹ 204 205 206 207¹ 208 209¹ 210 211¹ 213 214 215¹ 216 217 218 219¹ 220 221 222 A 223¹ 224 225¹ 226 227–238¹ 239 240–278¹ 279 280–298¹
300–399	300 301¹ 302 303 304¹ 305¹ 306 A/L B 307 308 309 310¹ 311¹ 312¹ 313¹ 314 315 A-1 A-2 316 318¹ 319 320¹ 321 322¹ 324 L M/N 326 327 E 328 E 329 F 330¹ 331¹ 332¹ 333¹ 334¹ 335 336 337 338–379¹ 380 A/B/E/F/N P 381–397¹ 399
400–499	400 B/C/N E G/H M 401 402 403¹ 405 406¹ 408¹ 409¹ 410 E 411 E L 413 414 416 L M (I) 418 419¹ 420 L/W 421¹ 422 423 424 425 426 L 427 L 428 L 429 431 434 435 L 436 441 A L 442 443 444¹ 445 446 447 448¹ 449¹ 450 451 L 452 453 454¹ 457¹ 460 L 462 463 464 465 468 471 L (I) L (II) 474 L N 475¹ 476 E 477 478 A 479¹ 481 L 482 E M/Z 484 485 Z 487 488 490 491¹ 493 494 495 496 497 L 498 C E L 499
500–599	501–519¹ 521–529¹ 531–541¹ 543–549¹ 550 551–559¹ 560 561–569¹ 571–579¹ 580 581–589¹ 591 593–599¹
600–699	601 A 602 A 603 A 605 606 607 608¹ 609 610¹ 611¹ 612¹ 613¹ 615¹ 616 617¹ 619¹ 620 621 A/B (I) 622 624 626¹ 628¹ 629¹ 630¹ 631¹ 634 A B 636¹ 637¹ 638 641 644¹ 645¹ 646¹ 647¹ 648 A P 649 P 653¹ 654¹ 655 656 657¹ 658¹ 659¹ 662¹ 663¹ 665 666 669¹ 671¹ 672 673¹ 676¹ 677¹ 678¹ 681 682¹ 683 A V 684¹ 687 P 688¹ 689¹ 691 C Z 692¹ 693 694¹ 695 A B C L N P Q R S (I) S (II) 696¹ 697¹ 698¹ 699¹
700–799	700–735¹ 737¹ 738¹ 739¹ 740¹ 742 743 744¹ 745 746–753¹ 755–799¹
800–899	800¹ 801¹ 802 803¹ 804¹ 805¹ 807 808–816¹ 818¹ 819¹ 820¹ 821¹ 822¹ 824–831¹ 832 833¹ 834 835–845¹ 847–899¹
900–999	900–951¹ 952 853¹ 854¹ 855¹ 956 957–967¹
¹ Unknown or not assigned

Lockheed RC-130 Hercules

Contents

Operational history[]

Variants[]

Operators[]

See also[]

Bibliography[]