ROA recently called on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to fully fund the President’s FY 2027 budget request for 18 KC-130J aircraft for the Navy Reserve, ahead of the Subcommittee’s May 21, 2026, hearing on the Department of the Navy budget request. Watch the hearing here.
In a letter to Chairman Mitch McConnell and Ranking Member Chris Coons, ROA emphasized that the KC-130J is the Navy’s only organic intra-theater airlift capable of moving oversized cargo and the only platform that can meet the full airlift demand generated by Distributed Maritime Operations. The Navy Reserve operates the entire Navy C-130 logistics fleet, which is approaching the end of its operational life.
The FY 2027 request builds directly on procurements of one aircraft in FY 2024, two in FY 2025, and four in FY 2026 — the last enabled by $500 million provided in the FY 2026 Defense Appropriations Act. Sustained execution at the FY 2027 level would bring the Navy Reserve KC-130J fleet to 32 aircraft by 2030 and support a Multiyear Procurement IV contract beginning in FY 2028, with savings comparable to the estimated 11 percent achieved under MYP III.
“Underinvestment in recapitalization threatens the Navy’s ability to sustain distributed naval operations in the Indo-Pacific and erodes the Total Force’s organic airlift backbone,” said Maj. Gen. John B. Hashem, U.S. Army (Ret.), Chief Executive Officer of ROA. “Full funding of the 18-aircraft request would close a long-standing capability gap and deliver durable readiness for distributed maritime operations.”
ROA also pointed to the C-130J production line’s broader footprint, which supports 497 suppliers across 38 states, 33,563 direct and indirect jobs, and more than $3.9 billion in annual economic impact. Production has declined from more than 24 aircraft per year in 2020 to approximately 20 today, and ROA emphasized that only sustained congressional investment will prevent further attrition of the only active U.S. airlifter still in production.