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(Top) 1 Operational history 2 Variants 3 Operators 4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography

Lockheed RC-130 Hercules

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RC-130 Hercules

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

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

Operational history[edit]

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[edit]

C-130A-II: Electronics reconnaissance variant for use by 7407th Combat Support Wing, 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[edit]

United States

United States Air Force

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Francillon 1982, p. 347-373

^ "NSA PDF file" (PDF).

^ Pike, John. "Battlefield Illumination Airborne System (BIAS)". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 14 September 2018.

^ "Why Iran's Air Force is Still Flying American Planes". 13 February 2017.

Bibliography[edit]

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

v t e 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

Lockheed and Lockheed Martin aircraft and spacecraft

Transports

Vega family	1 & 2 Vega 3 Air Express 4 Explorer 5 Vega 6¹ 7 Explorer 8 Sirius 8-D, E & G Altair 9 Orion DL.1 Vega
Electra family	10 Electra 12 Electra Junior 14 Super Electra 414 Hudson 18 Lodestar 37 Ventura 43 Harpoon
Constellation family	Constellation L-049 L-649 L-749 L-1049 L-1249 L-1649 Starliner C-69 C-121 EC-121 XB-30
C-130 Hercules family	C-130 C-130J AC-130 DC-130 HC-130 EC-130 EC-130H KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 WC-130 L-100
L-188 Electra family	L-188 P-3 EP-3 CP-140 P-7
Other types	C-5 C-141 Excalibur JetStar L-1011 Tristar RAF L-2000 Saturn Vega Starliner R6V

Fighter-bombers

Lightning family	P-38 XP-49 XP-58
Shooting Star family	F-80 F-94 T-33 T2V
Starfighter family	XF-104 F-104 NF-104A CL-288 CL-1200
Raptor family	YF-22 F-22 FB-22 X-44 MANTA
Other types	A-4AR A-9 F-16 F-21 F-35 F-117 XFM-2 XF-90 YP-24

Reconnaissance

Blackbird family	A-12 SR-71 Blackbird YF-12 M-21 D-21
Maritime patrol	Hudson PV-1 Ventura PV-2 Harpoon P2V/P-2 Neptune S-3 Viking P-3 Orion CP-140 Aurora P-7 LRAACA
Other crewed	CL-400 U-2 YO-3 Quiet Star TR-1 TR-X
UAVs	Aequare AQM-60 Cormorant (UAV) Desert Hawk Desert Hawk III Fury MQM-105 Polecat RQ-3 RQ-170 SR-72 X-44 (UAV)

Trainers

Helicopters

Experimental

Light aircraft

Missiles

Engines

J37/T35

Model
numbers

1
2
3
4
5
6¹
7
8
- A/D
9
10
11
12
13¹
14
15
16
17¹
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25¹
26
27
28¹
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36¹
37
38¹
39¹
40
41
42
44
45
49
50
51
52
60
61
62
75
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
99
100
104
105
122
129
133
136
137
140
141
144
149
170
171
182
185
186
188
189
193
199
200
204
206
207
210
212
222
244
245
246
249
282 (I)
282 (II)
285
286
288
293
295
296
298
300
301
320
322
325
329
330
331
346
349
351
379
380
382
389
400 (I)
400 (II)
402
407
414
422
437
449
475
480
489
500
520
522
549
580
595
622
645
649
680
685
704
749
760
780
785
822
823
840
849
880
901
915
934
949
977
980
981
984
985
995
1000
1010
1011
1020
1026
1049
- A
1060
1080
1090
1132
1149
1195
1200
1201
1235
1236
1237
1249
1329
1400
1449
1549
1600
1649
1700
1800
1980
2000
2329

Vega	1 2 3¹ 4¹ 5 6 7–10¹ 11 12–14¹ 15 16¹ 17 18 19¹ 20¹ 21 22 23 24 25¹ 26 27–32¹ 33 34 35 36¹ 37 38¹ 39¹ 40 41 42 43

¹ Not assigned

v t e 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 C-41A C-42 C-43 C-44 C-45 C-46 C-47 C-47F C-47T 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 C-70B C-71 C-72 C-73 C-74 C-75 C-76 C-77 C-77B–D C-78 C-79 C-80 C-81 C-82 C-83 C-83A C-83B 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 C-117D C-118 C-119 AC-119 C-120 C-121 C-121F EC-121 C-122 C-123 C-123A C-124 C-125 C-126 C-127² C-127 (I) C-127 (II) C-128 C-129 C-130 C-130J AC-130 DC-130 EC-130/H HC-130 KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 WC-130 C-131 NC-131H C-132 C-133 C-134 C-135 KC-135 C-136 C-137² YC-137 (I) YC-137 (II) 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-7² C-7 RC-7 C-8 C-9 C-10² C-10 KC-10 C-11 C-12 RC-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16¹ C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20² C-20A–D C-20F–J C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-27J C-28 C-29 C-30¹ C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34¹ C-35 C-36³ C-37 C-37B 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-767B C-880
Related designations	CT-39 CT-43 CV-2 CV-7
¹ Not assigned • ² Assigned to multiple types • ³ Unconfirmed

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v t e 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 L M 118 A L P 119 C/F E L T Y 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127¹ 128 129 130 131 132 A B 133 134¹ 135 136¹ 137¹ 138 139 140 141¹ 142 143–197¹ 198 199 B C D Y
200–299	200 201 A/L B/W E 202 203¹ 204 205 206 207¹ 208 209¹ 210 211¹ 212 213 214 215¹ 216 217 218 219¹ 220 221 222 A G 223¹ 224 225¹ 226 227–238¹ 239 240–278¹ 279 280–298¹ 299
300–399	300 301¹ 302 303 304¹ 305¹ 306 A/L B 307 308 309 310¹ 311¹ 312¹ 313¹ 314 315 A-1 A-2 316 317 318¹ 319 320¹ 321 322¹ 323 324 L M/N 325 326 327 E 328 E 329 F 330¹ 331¹ 332¹ 333¹ 334¹ 335 336 337 338–379¹ 380 A/B/E/F/N P 381–397¹ 398 399 A B
400–499	400 B/C/N E G/H M 401 402 403¹ 404 405 B C D 406¹ 407 408¹ 409¹ 410 E L 411 E L 412 413 414 L M 415 416 L M (I) M (II) P Q 417 418 L M 419¹ 420 L/W 421¹ 422 423 424 425 426 L M 427 L M 428 A L 429 430 431 G (I) G (II) 432 433 434 435 A L 436 437 438 439 440 441 A D L 442 443 444¹ 445 L M 446 447 448¹ 449¹ 450 451 D L 452 453 454¹ 455 456 457¹ 458 459 460 L 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 L (I) L (II) 472 473 474 L N 475¹ 476 E 477 478 A T 479¹ 480 481 L 482 E L M/Z 483 484 L M N 485 L Z 486 487 488 489 490 L M 491¹ 492 493 494 495 L (I) L (II) 496 497 A L (I) L 498 A C D E L 499 A C D
500–599	500 501–519¹ 520 521–529¹ 530 531–541¹ 542 543–549¹ 550 A E 551–559¹ 560 A F 561–569¹ 570 571–579¹ 580 A E 581–589¹ 590 591 592 593–599¹
600–699	600 601 A L 602 A L 603 A L 604 605 606 607 608¹ 609 610¹ 611¹ 612¹ 613¹ 614 615¹ 616 617¹ 618 619¹ 620 621 A/B (I) B (II) 622 623 624 625 626¹ 627 628¹ 629¹ 630¹ 631¹ 632 633 634 A B 635 636¹ 637¹ 638 639 640 641 642 643 644¹ 645¹ 646¹ 647¹ 648 A D P 649 A B C D E F L P 650 651 652 653¹ 654¹ 655 A (I) A (II) P 656 657¹ 658¹ 659¹ 660 661 662¹ 663¹ 664 665 A (I) A (II) 666 A C/P 667 668 669¹ 670 671¹ 672 A M/P 673¹ 674 675 676¹ 677¹ 678¹ 679 680 681 D E 682¹ 683 A J V 684¹ 685 686 687 J P 688¹ 689¹ 690 691 C X 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 736 737¹ 738¹ 739¹ 740¹ 741 742 743 744¹ 745 746–753¹ 754 755–799¹
800–899	800¹ 801¹ 802 L (I) L (II) 803¹ 804¹ 805¹ 806 807 808–816¹ 817 818¹ 819¹ 820¹ 821¹ 822¹ 823 824–831¹ 832 833¹ 834 835–845¹ 846 847–899¹
900–999	900–951¹ 952 853¹ 854¹ 855¹ 956 957–967¹ 968
¹ Unknown or not assigned