The CAL FIRE C-130H FireHerc

Story and photos by Mike Colaner/ACES HIGH

California’s recent acquisition and successful deployment of its own C-130H large air tanker (LAT), a first in the nation, is a testament to its unwavering commitment to combating wildfires. Nevertheless, more than an Act of Congress was needed to create the CAL FIRE fleet of large air tankers; it took two of them and four years to transfer the seven former United States Coast Guard (USCG) Lockheed HC-130H Hercules aircraft from the federal government to the state of California for conversion to large air tankers.

It has been a long and arduous process that began as a critical objective of the CAL FIRE 2019 Strategic Plan. The Enhanced Aviation Resources section of the plan outlined a five-year timeline for adding C-130s to the CAL FIRE fleet, a goal successfully achieved on August 26, 2024, when CAL FIRE Tanker 122 delivered 8,000 gallons of fire retardant along the “Record Fire” in Riverside County. The CAL FIRE C-130H has a significantly increased fire retardant capacity over the Grumman S-2T Firecat currently flown by CAL FIRE. This capacity allows the C-130H to cover longer fire lines. Its long-range capabilities, speed, load capacity, and loitering ability enhance CAL FIRE’s effectiveness in aerial firefighting operations.

The concept of using C-130s as large air tankers for wildfire suppression was born from the ashes of California’s “Laguna Fire” in September 1970. The Laguna Fire was a significant turning point in wildfire management, creating two significant components still used today, the unified command Incident Command System (ICS) and the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS).

Developed in 1971, MAFFS was a cooperative effort between the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Military. The 2,700-gallon roll-on/roll-off Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System could be installed on C-130s without any aircraft modifications, converting them into air tankers in as little as 30 minutes. The fire retardant is delivered utilizing an unpressurized C-130 with a lowered cargo ramp.

At the time of the Laguna Fire, the California Department of Forestry (CDF), later known as CAL FIRE, was contracting seven privately owned air tankers consisting of de-militarized Grumman TBM Avengers, F7F Tigercats, Consolidated PBYs, and a Boeing B-17. These tankers were grounded mainly due to their ineffectiveness with fire retardant drops in the Santa Ana winds.

Fifty-three years later, the MAFFS mission has changed little and is still flown by three U.S. Air Force Air National Guard (ANG) units: the 146th Airlift Wing of the California ANG, the 152nd Airlift Wing of the Nevada ANG, the 153rd Airlift Wing of the Wyoming ANG, and the 302nd Airlift Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

The original MAFFS has been upgraded to the MAFFS II, which has an increased capacity of 3,000 gallons. The fire retardant is delivered through a modified ducted paratroop door at the rear of the fuselage, allowing the aircraft to remain sealed and pressurized.

The air tankers drop the more effective fire retardant instead of water, which evaporates while falling from the tanker. Fire retardant is a slurry mix consisting of a chemical salt compound, water, clay or a gum-thickening agent, and a coloring agent. At nine pounds per gallon, a CAL FIRE S-2T Firecat can carry 10,800 pounds (1,200 Gallons), and a C-130H can carry 36,000 pounds (4,000 Gallons).

Sadly, until the early 2000s, the aerial firefighting industry averaged one air tanker loss annually without much impact on safety. However, that changed in 2002 when two fatal crashes, in particular, finally changed the industry’s perception of safety. For the first time, the commercial air tanker crashes of a C-130A Hercules and a PB4Y2 Privateer was caught on film and video, allowing the world to witness the cost of life and aircraft when combatting wildfires.

The ensuing investigations attributed both aircraft’s losses to fatigue cracks, eventually leading to structural failures related to the wings and the spars anchoring the wings to the fuselage. The resulting increased inspection scrutiny had the U.S. Forest Service exclusive-use leased air tanker fleet availability shrink from forty-four in 2002 to nine by 2013.

The dwindling availability of a private air tanker fleet motivated the U.S. Forest Service to own and operate a fleet of large air tankers for firefighting service in 2013.

The U.S. Congress recognized the Forest Services’ need and, within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2014, authorized the transfer of seven U.S. Coast Guard Lockheed HC-130H Hercules aircraft to the USFS for large air tanker conversion.

The HC-130H is a specially modified version of the C-130 Hercules originally designed for long-range overwater search missions, support airlift, maritime patrol, and command and control of search and rescue for the Air Force and Coast Guard.

However, the seven HC-130H aircraft selected would be among the oldest active HC-130H aircraft in service, all constructed between 1983 and 1987. All seven were designated for retirement with the U.S. Air Forces 309th Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Group (AMARG) at the Davis Monthan Air Force Base, known as the boneyard, to be parted out or scrapped as necessary.

The Defense Bill allotted $130 million, requiring the Air Force to perform programmed depot level maintenance and modifications necessary to integrate a gravity-drop aerial fire retardant dispersal system. Additionally, each HC-130H required the replacement of the outer wing box and structural upgrades to the center wing box and spars to withstand the flight dynamic stresses of air tanker service.

Initially, the process moved quickly with aircraft transfer to the U.S. Forest Service. However, the depot-level maintenance and modifications moved much slower. By 2018, the US Forest Service had only received Tankers 116 and 118 retrofitted with the MAFFS.

The program’s pace contributed to the U.S. Forest Service’s determination that private industry could better meet the Agency’s needs for large air tankers through leasing or on-call status. By 2018, the U.S. Forest Service officially requested to terminate the large air tanker program. It is widely reported that an internal memorandum circulated explaining the request for the program termination, stating, We didn’t know what we didn’t know about managing and operating a large air tanker fleet.

Upon learning of this development, former CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott successfully spearheaded a bipartisan effort, in cooperation with the late Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and John McCain (R-AZ), to petition the Federal Government to give the aircraft to CAL FIRE. While the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 directed that the HC-130Hs be transferred to California, they remained in the possession of the U.S. Air Force and Forest Service four years later.

Tired of inaction, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA) introduced a provision into the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024 to once again send the seven HC-130H aircraft to CAL FIRE immediately, done or not. On December 14, 2023, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, enabling the transfer of aircraft from the Federal government to California.

With the ownership of the HC-130H Hercules transferred to California, CAL FIRE wasted no time configuring them into C-130Hs at CAL FIRE’s Aviation Management Unit at McClellan Air Tanker Base (MATB) in Sacramento, California.

The C-130s quickly received a new livery of glossy white paint with red and black stripes. Each tail is adorned with the tanker’s number, the fuselage has the Republic of California flag and the tanker’s number on the underside, with the CAL FIRE flash proudly displayed on the fuselage, tail, and wings.

The C-130H is ideally suited for the CAL FIRE tanker mission. It requires only three crew members: a pilot, a co-pilot, and a flight engineer. These crew members have flown in other CAL FIRE aircraft and trained to transition to the C-130H in flight simulators. The aircraft can hold the desired altitude of 200 feet above the tallest vegetation, ensuring the retardant has enough time to reach terminal velocity while safely reaching the target area without impacting firefighters or terrain with high force.

The HC-130H is quickly distinguished from other C-130 types by its two large windows installed on both sides of the forward fuselage, which CAL FIRE retained. However, the CAL FIRE Hercules did not retain the two 1,290-gallon external fuel tanks slung under each wing, the nose-mounted turret Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR), or the Military Satellite Communications (Mil-SATCOM) radios.

Each CAL FIRE C-130H underwent a comprehensive retrofitting process, costing $6.5 million. Structural elements were replaced, and the airframe was modified to allow a hydraulic system to release retardant from the discharge doors at the bottom center of the cargo bay. When the retrofitting down to individual rivets is completed, each aircraft will be stronger and better than when they rolled off the Lockheed assembly line in the 1980s.

Each aircraft will be modified to implement the Coulson Aviation Retardant Aerial Delivery System (RADS)—XXL Firefighting System. Referred to as the “Lego” by the CAL FIRE crews due to its resemblance to the toy building block, the RADS is anything but a child’s toy. It has a 4,000-gallon water or fire retardant capacity. It can be installed or removed from the CAL FIRE C-130H in as little as thirty minutes. The controller and cockpit interface provide operators with real-time flow rate adjustment technology, allowing the CAL FIRE crews to line up and drop the fire retardant in consecutive passes without wasteful overlap or gaps in the fire retardant line.

The Coulson Aviation RADS has many improvements over the MAFFS. It can carry 1,000 gallons more of fire retardant and weighs only 2,300 pounds, compared to the MAFFS’s 15,000 pounds. The RADS has a programmable variable flow rate of up to 1,600 gallons per second, compared to the MAFFS’s 700 gallons, and can empty the tank in only 2.2 seconds, compared to the MAFFS’s 4.3 seconds.

In its first month of service, CAL FIRE Tanker 122 has flown missions on fifteen fires and successfully dropped 140,000 gallons of fire retardant.

The C-130Hs are identified here with their new CAL FIRE number, former U.S. Coast Guard designations, and build serial numbers;

Tanker – 116 – HC-130H / USCG S/N 1708 / BuNo 83-0507
Tanker – 117 – HC-130H / USCG S/N 1714 / BuNo 85-0051
Tanker – 118 – HC-130H / NC-130H / USCG S/N 1721 / BuNo 87-0157
Tanker – 119 – HC-130H / USCG S/N 1719 / BuNo 86-0422
Tanker – 120 – HC-130H / USCG S/N 1709 / BuNo 83-0508
Tanker – 121 – HC-130H / USCG S/N 1706 / BuNo 83-0505
Tanker – 122 – HC-130H / USCG S/N 1713 / BuNo 84-0482

Tankers 121, 118, and 117 are currently in various conversion stages. Tanker 121 is being retrofitted for the RADS and appears to be the next C-130H to actively join the CAL FIRE service. A third C-130H is projected to be completed by the summer of 2025. The CAL FIRE C-130Hs will be strategically located throughout the state at CAL FIRE air attack bases in Ramona, Paso Robles, Fresno, McClellan, and Chico for rapid initial attack delivery of fire retardants.

While using C-130s as large air tankers has been practiced since the early 1970s, the CAL FIRE C-130H represents a significant technological leap forward. It surpasses the commercial and military C-130s equipped with MAFFS, demonstrating California’s commitment to investing in the latest and most effective firefighting equipment.

What is next for CAL FIRE aviation? Their TAC AIR OV-10A will be replaced by newly purchased OV-10D Bronco’s. The UH-1 Super Hueys will be retiring as the last of the new S-70i Firehawks are delivered. The Firehawks are equipped with Night Vision Goggles (NVG), giving them the unique capability to fight fires at night. The CAL FIRE Hercules may also see this capability someday as well. Lockheed Martin has noticed what CAL FIRE is accomplishing and proposed a new build, L-100J (commercial C-130) FireHerc, equipped with the RADS and NVGs.

While the future is always uncertain, one thing is sure from my time with CAL FIRE: I guarantee that these firefighting aviation visionaries will undoubtedly write the next chapter in the manual for aerial firefighting.

Special thanks to Linnea Edmeier, Aviation Communications Officer, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), and the CAL FIRE personnel at McClellan Air Tanker Base for the unique access and assistance with this piece. Base for the unique access and assistance with this piece.