The US Air Force (USAF) has retired its final EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, deployed since the early 1980s for electronic warfare operations in support of US and coalition forces.
The EC-130H conducted its final flight on September 2 and its final operational taxi on September 18 during a formal retirement ceremony at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
It has been reassigned to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, entering the aircraft boneyard.
Its role will be taken over by the EA-37B electromagnetic attack aircraft — a modified Gulfstream G550 that carries on the same Compass Call name — which the USAF first received in August 2024.
With an operational ceiling of 51,000 feet (15,545 meters), the EA-37B can fly more than twice as high as its predecessor and reach speeds of up to 600 miles (966 kilometers) per hour.
EC-130H
The USAF operated a fleet of 14 EC-130H Compass Call aircraft before their gradual phase-out as the service transitioned to the EA-37B.
A heavily modified version of the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules military transport airframe, the EC-130H measures approximately 98 feet (30 meters) long and 38 feet (12 meters) high, accommodating a combat crew of 13.
Its Block 1 configuration weighed 107,000 pounds (48,534 kilograms) and was later reduced to 103,000 pounds (46,720 kilograms) in Block 2.
With a maximum takeoff weight of 155,000 pounds (69,750 kilograms), the aircraft can travel at a range of 2,295 miles (3,694 kilometers) and an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 meters).
The EC-130H forms the service’s Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) triad, together with the EA-6B, EA-18G, and F-16CJ.
