United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-04-21 monographic deposited born digital 39 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-98-108 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-108 P0b002ee18039f91c f:ns98108 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-108 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-108 NSIAD-98-108 Air Force procurement Tactical air forces Military aircraft Military airlift operations Military inventories National Guard Armed forces reserves C-130 Aircraft EC-130 Aircraft EC-130J Aircraft C-130J Aircraft Hercules Aircraft Letter Report NSIAD Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Air Force's C-130 program, focusing on: (1) the mission of the current and planned C-130 fleet; (2) the C-130 requirements for the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve; (3) the C-130 procurement history in the Guard and Reserve units; (4) the Air Force's plans for retiring excess C-130s in the Mastering Station Plan (MSP); (5) whether the Air Force's process for retiring C-130 aircraft when replacement aircraft become available is effective; (6) what the Air Force C-130J requirement is and what other alternatives were considered; and (7) the C-130J logistics support funding shortfall.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) the current C-130 fleet is comprised of 12 different variants and the missions vary with each variant; (2) while most of the current fleet is comprised of combat delivery aircraft, many of the C-130 variants perform specialized missions; (3) at the time of GAO's review, peacetime and wartime requirements for the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve combat delivery aircraft totalled 264 aircraft; (4) requirements for the Guard and Reserves' C-130 combat delivery aircraft are established in the Air Force's C-130 MSP, which was delivered to Congress in 1997; (5) for the past 21 years with the exception of five aircraft, Congress has directed the procurement of C-130s for the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units; (6) according to C-130 program officials, the Air Force has not requested these aircraft because aircraft in those units have many years of service life remaining; (7) about 50 C-130 aircraft were identified in the Air Force MSP as excess over requirements; (8) thirty of these were in the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve units and the remaining were in the active duty force; (9) reductions in the Air National Guard were expected to be 24 aircraft and the Air Force Reserve Command units were to be reduced by 6 aircraft; (10) according to Air Force officials, these reductions were not made; (11) although the Air Force has a process for governing the retirement of its aircraft, it has not been able to implement the process effectively; (12) as a result, some C-130 aircraft have been retired with substantial service life remaining and shortly after the aircraft had been modified; (13) as of March 1998, the Air Force had not decided how many C-130Js will be required; (14) the Air Force has been requesting one or two C-130Js per year since 1996 for the active force; (15) the remaining J acquisitions were congressionally-directed buys for the Guard and Reserve; (16) regarding alternatives to the J, GAO was told that alternatives have been evaluated and rejected in the past; and (17) Air Force C-130 officials stated that funding shortfalls for the C-130 fleet have historically been a problem, primarily because Congress has added C-130 aircraft to their budget without providing the needed funding for logistics support. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-108/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-108.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-108/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-108.pdf GAO/NSIAD-98-108 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-108 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-98-108; Intratheater Airlift: Information on the Air Force's C-130 Aircraft; Air Force procurement Tactical air forces Military aircraft Military airlift operations Military inventories National Guard Armed forces reserves C-130 Aircraft EC-130 Aircraft EC-130J Aircraft C-130J Aircraft Hercules Aircraft Public Law 103-335 S. Rept. 104-267