AC/MC-130J

SOCOMProcurementPartial Reconciliation2012C130J

What it is

AC/MC-130J (2012C130J) is a SOCOM procurement line funded in the Procurement, Defense-Wide account.

What changed

-$50.0M FY25→26 P-1 TOA · PB2026

Who gets it

No award linkage at high confidence.

Budget Figures

FY24 Actuals

$312.9MP-1 TOA · PB2026

FY25 Enacted

$286.3MP-1 TOA · PB2026

FY26 Request

$236.3MP-1 TOA · PB2026

FY25→26 Change

-$50.0MP-1 TOA · PB2026

FY2026 award data is a partial year — USASpending awards are reported on a rolling basis and the fiscal year does not close until September 30. why partial FY2026 data? →

Budget Trajectory

The program's 3 summary figures for FY24 to FY26, plotted in fiscal-year order so the direction of travel is readable at a glance: this line ends lower than it starts. The points are the summary cards above, not a separate derivation; the table beside the chart carries each figure with its own citation.

Budget trajectory: one row per fiscal year, carrying the summary figure the sparkline plots. Every figure opens its own citation.
Fiscal year	Amount
FY24	$312.9M
FY25	$286.3M
FY26	$236.3M

All series figures: P-1 TOA · PB2026

Decade view — P-1/R-1 workbook TOA basis, shown compact in $B/$M (the workbook records USD thousands); each figure cites its own President's Budget edition

5 fiscal years of this program as published (FY2022–FY2026): a line through the actuals (filled dots), with the enacted (hollow circles) and request (diamonds) markers each edition reported. Read it for direction, not for precision — this program's actuals line rises across the span. The grid below is the same data as text, one cited figure per cell.

The vertical scale does not start at zero: the baseline sits just below this program’s smallest year, so a low point on this line is not a small amount. Read the shape for direction and the grid below for the figures.

● actuals (line) · ○ enacted · ◇ request — gaps are editions the program is absent from, never interpolated.

Decade series values by fiscal year and President's Budget edition: one row per series (actuals, enacted, request), one column per fiscal year. Every figure opens its own citation.
Series	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26
Actuals	$205.2M	$222.9M	$312.9M
Enacted	–	$222.9M	$319.8M	$286.3M
Request	–	–	$319.8M	$300.9M	$236.3M

blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.

Asked vs spent: the PB2024 book requested $319.8M for FY2024; the PB2026 book reported $312.9M as actual total obligation authority — $6.83M below the request. 312.92 − 319.75 = -6.83 USD millions — the compact figures above are rounded for reading.

Program Lineage

No predecessor/successor lineage was recorded for this program element — no FY-to-FY transfer into or out of this line was stated in the ingested J-books, and none was inferred from the program structure.

Description

Description — AC/MC-130J

The AC/MC-130J Line Item funds the rapid fielding of advanced strike and survivability capabilities for Special Operations Forces (SOF) AC-130J and MC-130J aircraft as modernized replacements for the retired AC-130U/H/W and MC-130E/P/H fleets. AC-130J "Ghostrider" aircraft perform strike missions, to include close air support (CAS), air interdiction, and armed reconnaissance missions. MC-130J "Commando II" aircraft perform SO-peculiar (SO-p) mobility missions, to include clandestine, or low visibility, single or multiship, low-level infiltration (infil), exfiltration (exfil), and resupply of SOF, by airdrop or airland and air refueling for SOF helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft, intruding politically sensitive or hostile territories. The United States Air Force procures and fields the basic C-130J aircraft, common support equipment, and Weapon System Trainers (WST). The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) modifies the basic C-130J aircraft and WSTs with mission systems that provide SO-p capabilities integrated through the Special Mission System, and procures standalone training devices for specialized SO-p mission training. Rapid fielding and incremental upgrades are used to integrate SOF mission systems onto the basic C-130J aircraft that provide SO-p strike and mobility capabilities, with the objective to integrate and automate aircrew responsibilities to reduce workload. For MC-130J, these SO-p capabilities include Airborne Mission Networking (AbMN) to connect into the Department of Defense Joint All-Domain Command and Control construct, provide data fusion and improved situational awareness. Additionally, integration of the Silent Knight Radar (SKR) enables integrated terrain following (TF) / terrain avoidance (TA) for infil/exfil in contested operations, and a defensive countermeasures (DCM) suite with integrated electronic warfare capability (EW) increases survivability through enhanced threat detection and response. MC-130J Commando II aircraft that receive AbMN, TF/TA, and RFCM SO-p modifications are designated with the popular name "Combat Talon III." Integrating and automating SOF mission systems that deliver these capabilities is critical to fielding SOF-capable AC-130J and MC-130J aircraft to recapitalize the retired USSOCOM C-130 fleet, reduce the required crew complement for the changing operational environment and allow SOF to be more lethal, resilient, survivable, agile, and responsive. This budget line item also funds AC/MC-130J efforts related to communications security and joint/coalition interoperability, such as cryptographic modernization and low-cost modifications (LCM) to improve reliability, maintainability, mission effectiveness, and safety. Beginning in FY 2025, funding transitioned from P-1 Line Item 5000C13000 / C-130 Modifications into P-1 Line Item 2012C130J / AC/MC-130J, since the USSOCOM only employs AC/MC-130J aircraft following retirement of the remainder of the legacy C-130 fleets in FY 2023.

Justification

Justification — AC/MC-130J

FY 2026 BASE PROGRAM JUSTIFICATION: Continues MC-130J Capability Release 2 consolidated modifications and AC-130J modifications. Procures four Special Mission Systems (SMS) kits for installation on AC/MC-130J consolidation modification line plus support costs. Supports technical risk reduction, consolidation of technical data, and modification for MC-130J mission systems which interface to the aircraft and each other through the SMS. Procures four Electronic Warfare Radio Frequency Countermeasures A Kits and four B Kits for installation on the AC/MC-130J aircraft plus, initial spares, simulator/training systems, program management administration other government costs, and diminishing manufacturing sources. The MC-130J kit procurement is focused on meeting the consolidated modification line installation schedule. Procures four airborne mission networking A kits for consolidated modification line installation on the MC-130J plus initial spares, diminishing manufacturing sources/technology refresh, simulator/training systems, and other governments cost. Procures four MC-130 SOF common terrain following/terrain avoidance Silent Knight Radar (SKR) A Kits and seven B Kits for consolidated modification line installation on the MC-130J aircraft plus initial spares, diminishing manufacturing sources/technology refresh, simulators/training systems, other government costs, and peculiar support equipment. Procures four AC/MC-130J DSU aircraft modification labor, simulators/training systems, government furnished equipment, and other government costs. Procures seven MC-130J Auxiliary Flight Deck Station (AFDS) aircraft kits, associated labor, and other government costs. Procures MC-130J Variable Speed Drogue (VSD) hardware and AC/MC-130J weight management. The USSOCOM Silent Knight Rader (SKR) program office executed a 3-year Multiyear Procurement (MYP) contract that stabilized the procurement price of the radar from FY 2021 through FY 2023. Based upon the success of this acquisition strategy, the SKR program office awarded a 5-year MYP contract in FY 2024 which maintains a stabilized procurement price of the radar. This budget request includes funding to support a FY 2024 through FY 2028 MYP for the SOF Common TF/TA SKR program for the MC-130J aircraft as well as associated training systems modifications. C-130 Low Cost Modifications (LCM) Program modifies AC/MC-130J aircraft with SO-p equipment to improve aircrew safety and suitability, tanker and refueling operations, navigations and communications systems and aircraft performance. The C-130 Simulator Block Upgrade (SBUD) Program will continue to modernize and modify AC-130J/MC-130J aircrew and maintenance training devices and capabilities by addressing concurrency, obsolescence, networking and simulator realism issues.

Budget Line Items(workbook-cited)

P-1/R-1 workbook Total Obligation Authority basis (USD thousands) · PB2026.

Exhibit P-1

Account	Org	Type	Amount
Procurement, Defense-Wide	SOCOM	FY24 Actuals	$312.9M
Procurement, Defense-Wide	SOCOM	FY25 Enacted	$286.3M
Procurement, Defense-Wide	SOCOM	FY26 Disc. Request	$236.3M
Procurement, Defense-Wide	SOCOM	FY26 Total	$236.3M

Budget Details(R-2/P-40 facts)

J-book detail basis (R-2/P-40, USD millions) · PB2026 — a different accounting basis from the P-1/R-1 workbook TOA above; where the two disagree, the reconciliation strip under Budget Figures shows both.

Wider than this screen — swipe the table sideways for the remaining fiscal-year columns.

Project	All Prior Years	FY24 Actuals	FY25 Total	FY26 Base	FY26 Request
Program Element	$1.35B	$312.9M	$286.3M	$236.3M	$236.3M

No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 17 of 1,741 programs). why coverage is partial? →

Awards

No awards are linked to this program element at high confidence — the budget→award crosswalk only asserts links it can defend, and this line has none yet.

Lobbying Mentions

17 mentions from the Senate LDA disclosure database.

LOCKHEED MARTIN AERONAUTIC SECTORC-130J2026matched a known alias

Armed Services Committee: tactical aircraft issues, space based radar;GP;C-130J;foreign military sales; support…