MANSFIELD, Ohio—A major hurdle for the 179th Airlift Wing was crossed with the recent passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2015. The legislation, which was signed by President Barack Obama on Friday, Dec. 19, includes an amendment for modernization of C-130H aircraft, which is especially good news for the Ohio Air National Guard’s 179th Airlift Wing and its fleet of eight C-130s.
The amendment allows the Air Force to use alternative programs and funding, in addition to the Avionics Modernization Program, to modernize C-130H aircraft. Modernization is imperative in order to keep the aircraft viable because without the installment of an enhanced communication system, known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast-Out, the aircraft will become obsolete by 2020.
“The hard part is over with,” said 179th Wing Commander Col. Gary McCue. “When these things are passed, that is good news. And everything’s in there, but now it all just has to unfold, so to speak, so we’re just watching and waiting.”
They’re watching closely to see what action the Air Force takes in the near future because as Rich Green, former commander of the 179th and current leader of the Mansfield Military Affairs Council, pointed out, “[The amendment] gives the Air Force an option, but they don’t have to take that option.”
And yet, “It’s very important that that modification be completed,” he emphasized. The upgrade is in compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration and International Civil Aviation Organization Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management mandates.
To have the ADS-B Out systems installed in the aircraft, Green said the expected cost is considerably more than a civilian or general aviation version, possibly over $2 million per plane.
“We need to stay very attuned to what transpires in the coming months and act accordingly,” Green said.
“In the Mansfield Military Affairs Council, we’re doing our best to keep track of this almost on a daily basis to see what’s happening and what reports come out about what the Air Force wants to do…Our strategy also is to make sure that our elected officials are very up to speed with what’s going on so they can help us when we need help.”
Another cause of their concern, Green said, is the provision which requires the Air Force to notify the congressional defense committees whenever there are fewer than 300 combat coded C-130s. “The problem there is that there are between 350 and 360 C-130s in the inventory and obviously some of the planes we have are in the older category. So if the Air Force wants to retire airplanes, which has been their plan in order not to invest any money in them, there’s a good probability that depending on how many of those airplanes over 300 they decide to retire our planes could be in that group,” he explained.
Based on another one of the provisions, the Air Force has up to six months after the bill passes to establish a plan for what they will do with the C-130s, including any plans for modernization, Green said.
As the local base enters the new year, McCue informed that they’re keeping a positive outlook and focusing primarily on following through with their conversion, which began roughly in the spring of 2013. During that time, the base retired the C-27J Spartan aircraft and began to transition to the C-130H aircraft.
In October of this year, the base received its final two C-130 airplanes, bringing the total number up to eight C-130s.
“There are no major deployments on our horizon for 2015,” McCue said. “This next year will be pretty much dedicated to the conversion.”
