Marines look to refuelers for more eyes on battlefield

In an effort to aid in the gathering of information on insurgent activities, the Marine Corps plans to outfit KC-130J aerial refueling planes operating in Afghanistan with kits containing high-powered cameras and sensors, reports Dave Majumdar at Defense News.

Last year the Marine Corps redirected millions of dollars from an avionics initiative to assemble intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and weapons kits for its refuelers. Before the summer is over, the Marines hope to start flying the first KC-130J equipped not only with cameras, but also with missiles that might provide much-needed close-air support to ground forces.

But in order to get a green light for retrofitting the aerial refueling planes with sensors, computers and missiles, engineers will have to prove first that the installation of such equipment and weapons will not detract from the KC-130J’s primary refueling mission.

Lockheed Martin Corp. designed the kits, called Harvest Hawks for High Altitude Weapons. The company is on contract to deliver three kits for $51.6 million. The Marines eventually plan to buy nine kits.

The Marines are currently conducting developmental flight tests concurrently with operational tests. The first flights in Afghanistan are scheduled to occur this summer.

To carry out its expanded mission, the left wing of the aircraft would be converted to a platform for ISR camera and weapons. The aerial refueling pod would be removed in the field to accommodate Hellfire missiles. Field crews also would be able to remove the plane’s fuel tank on that side and attach a dry fuel tank modified to carry a camera pod.

The work stations to operate the video and control the weapons would be rolled up the same way as pallet-mounted munitions.

By turning to a largely self-contained work station that would be rolled on and off the aircraft as needed, designers avoided software hassles associated with feeding new streams of data and intelligence into the KC-130J’s mission system.

The Harvest Hawk computers will rely on the parent aircraft only for position information, power and communications—no permanent modifications will be made to the airframe.

The first kit is in the final stages of developmental flight testing at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and also China Lake range in the California desert.