The U.S. Air Force has begun looking at possibly upgrading or replacing its aging HC-130 tankers, service officials said Dec. 5.

The Lockheed Martin HC-130s, which perform aerial refueling of combat-search-and-rescue helicopters, are about 37 years old on average and are showing signs of age, including cracks in their center wing box sections, said Lt. Col. Tim Healy, who is involved in writing requirements for several types of aircraft, and Lt. Col. Dave Morgan, who oversees development of the Air Force's new Combat Search and Rescue-X (CSAR-X) helicopter. The Combat Rescue Tanker Replacement (CRT-X) program would modernize or replace the HC-130.

The Air Force is writing an initial capabilities document (ICD) for CRT-X to help make a case for the program, Healy and Morgan told reporters. Once the ICD is approved, the Air Force hopes to assess specific modernization options by conducting a formal analysis of alternatives (AOA).

The Air Force tentatively is aiming for CRT-X to achieve an initial operational capability in 2011, but Healy stressed that that date could change after more study. He said the Air Force believes it needs at least 10 more combat rescue tankers than the 36 it now has.

"We have a floor ... that says we cannot do it with less than 46" aircraft, Healy said. "The number might be higher. We're fleshing that out."

Turning to other platforms, Healy said the Air Force continues to explore buying a light cargo aircraft that could operate on short, austere runways. The Air Force has hired RAND Corp. to help define what such an aircraft should look like.

Light cargo, CVLSP

Morgan said the CSAR-X program remains on track to pick an airframe and prime contractor by May 2006. Competitors are the Boeing HH-47, the Lockheed Martin-AgustaWestland-Bell Helicopter Textron US101 and the Sikorsky HH-92.

Healy said he expects the Air Force to complete an AOA in the "late spring-ish" time frame on the Common Vertical Lift Support Program (CVLSP) helicopter, which would replace dozens of aging Bell UH-1N Huey helicopters flown by several intercontinental ballistic missile wings and by the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The ICBM wings use their UH-1Ns mainly to move security forces, while the helicopters at Andrews perform such missions as medical evacuations and transporting high-ranking officials. Healy said it remains to be seen whether CVLSP will actually be "common" with the CSAR-X airframe, as once envisioned.