A new HC-130J Combat King II personnel recovery aircraft for the 79th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, (US Air Force serial number 09-5708) was flown from the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia, to the base outside Tucson on 29 November 2012. This HC-130J is the fifth of fifteen aircraft currently scheduled for delivery to Air Combat Command and Air Education and Training Command units. The HC-130J replaces the HC-130P/N Combat King as the only dedicated fixed-wing personnel recovery platform in the US Air Force inventory. The aircraft is designed for rapid deployment to enable crews to conduct recovery operations including airdrop, airland, air-to-air refueling of rescue helicopters, and forward area ground refueling missions.
