C-130s of the USANG and USAFR in the battle against South California Wildfires
By Babak Taghvaee
The Southern California Wildfires of 2025, which began on January 7, burned a total of 57,403 acres, destroyed 16,252 structures valued at over USD 250 billion, and claimed the lives of at least 28 individuals within just two weeks. These fires represent the most extensive wildfires in contemporary U.S. history, and the highest number of aerial firefighting assets were deployed to combat them. A total of 125 aircraft and helicopters—both civilian and military—participated in the firefighting efforts. Among these, eight aircraft were critical to the operation, comprising six Lockheed Martin C-130H-3 Hercules and two C-130J-30 Super Hercules from the United States Air National Guard (USANG) and the Air Force Reserve (USAFR).
These aircraft were equipped with Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) II modules and played a key role as air tankers. This article reviews their operations in response to the Southern California Fires of 2025.
Cal Fire's Limited Air Assets in January 2025
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has one of the world's largest fleets of firefighting aircraft and helicopters. As of January 2025, it had 43 fixed-wing aircraft and 27 helicopters, which, during the fire season, could be spread and stationed in 14 air tanker bases and 11 helicopters. However, when the massive wildfires around Los Angeles erupted in the early hours of January 7, 2025, a large number of these assets were at the headquarters of Cal Fire's Aviation Management Branch at Sacramento McClellan Airport undergoing maintenance, modifications, and other preparations for the fire season. As a result, only 24 fixed-wing aircraft and 10 helicopters of Cal Fire became available for the fight against the wildfires in Southern California during the first two weeks.
The fixed-wing aircraft of Cal Fire involved in the firefighting operations were a Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules used as a Large Air Tanker (LAT), 12 out of 23 Marsh S-2F3AT Turbo Trackers of Cal Fire used as Type III tankers, and eleven out of 16 North American OV-10A Bronco air tactical aircraft of Cal Fire. Not all of these were available during the first days of the wildfire; two of the S-2F3ATs were activated several days after the start of the wildfires, while six out of eleven OV-10As involved in these operations were restored to flying condition during the second week of the fires as they were primarily stored at Sacramento airport. They played an essential role as airborne command posts for mapping the wildfires and guiding large and very large air tankers (such as DC-10-30s of 10 Tanker Carrier) towards them.
The largest and most capable aircraft of Cal Fire that took part in these operations is N462DF, the first out of seven ex-US Coast Guard HC-130H Hercules large air tankers delivered to Cal Fire in 2024. To enhance the performance and effectiveness of the operations carried out by the aircraft, Cal Fire selected Coulson Aviation's Retardant Aerial Delivery System (RADS) XXL system over MAFFS II modules to install on these aircraft. The system can carry 4,000 gallons of water or fire retardant, which is 1,000 gallons more than the maximum capacity of MAFFS II. Also, RADSL-XXL is significantly lighter than the MAFFS II. However, all of these benefits of RADS-XXL come with the cost of necessary modifications in the cargo compartment and fuselage of the HC-130Hs for using them.
In the past several months, Coulson Aviation's engineers and mechanics have been modifying HC-130Hs of Cal Fire to use the RADS-XXL systems. They have worked on strengthening the structures of these 38 to 41-year-old aircraft and equipped them with special doors or hatches at the bottom of the fuselages for water/fire retardant release. Thanks to these special doors, the total load jettison time is 2.2 seconds due to a flow rate of 1,600 gallons per second, while for the MAFFS-II system, it is 700 gallons per second, resulting in a total load jettison time of 4.3 seconds. More flow of water allows for faster and more effective suppression of fire.
The sole active HC-130H of Cal Fire made its first post-conversion test flight from Sacramento on August 16, 2024. After completing its test flights, instructor pilots of Coulson Aviation used it to train several C-130 pilots of Cal Fire for firefighting operations, making them ready to fight wildfires from September 1, 2024, when they were first deployed to San Bernardino.
In the morning of January 7, 2025, the sole airworthy HC-130H was refueled and had its tank RADS-XXL filled with fire retardant and was flown to Los Angeles, where it dropped fire retardant over the Pasilades fire in the west of the city and near Topanga State Park. The next day, the aircraft was deployed to Lancaster, closer to the fire-affected regions of Los Angeles, reducing the time needed between take-offs, drops, and landings. Until January 25, the aircraft conducted 33 sorties of flight during which it fought Pasilades, Eaton, and Otay Mountain wildfires, dropping almost 142,000 gallons of water or fire retardant.
Engagement of the USANG/USAFR’s C-130s in the War on the Wildfires
On January 8, 2025, and at the request of the Governor of California, the United States Northern Command issued orders for the preparation of all of the eight C-130H-3/J-30s of the USANG/USAFR available for using eight MAFFS IIs of the United States Forest Service (USFS) for fighting the Southern California Wildfires.
The MAFFS II operator units are 115th AS, a component of the California ANG's 146th AW at Channel Islands ANG Station, California, with two C-130J-30s; the 192nd AS, a component of Nevada ANG's 152nd AW at Nevada ANG Base, Nevada, with two C-130H-3s; the 187th AS, a component of Wyoming ANG's 153rd AW at Cheyenne ANG Base, Wyoming, with two C-130H-3s; and the 731st AS, a component of the US Air Force Reserve's 302nd AW at Peterson AFB, Colorado, with two C-130H-3s.
March Air Reserve Base, located in Riverside County, California, was designated as a FEMA Incident Support Base to support disaster operations in the forward distribution of supplies and equipment.
“U.S. Northern Command immediately took action as we watched and learned more about the fires in the Los Angeles area. Supporting civil authorities is a valued part of our homeland defense mission. We’re well-practiced and in a position to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Interagency Firefighting Center (NIFC), and the state of California to assist the many citizens in need,” said General Gregory Guillot, Commander of U.S. Northern Command on January 9, 2025.
“The 152nd Airlift Wing, Nevada Air National Guard, is ready to assist in protecting the people, homes, and businesses in southern California,” said Col. Catherine Grush, the Commander of the 152nd Airlift Wing, on January 9, 2025. “Californians are not only our neighbors but part of our family of guardsmen and women and we are honored to help assist with this effort.”
Compared to the C-130H-3s of the 152nd, 153rd and 302nd AWs, the two C-130J-30s of 146th AW (01-1461 and 06-1467) logged relatively higher sorties as MAFFS4 and MAFFS6. Their first missions were performed on January 11, while the last known missions performed at the time of completion of this report were on January 24, 2025. They fought a forest fire in the North of Castaic Lake that day.
“We train in a special certification to be aerial firefighters,” said U.S. Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Richard Pantusa, 302nd Operations Group chief of aerial firefighting, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. “We convert our combat-rated C-130s into air tankers via a modular system called MAFFS. It’s a specially designed tank for Air Force C-130s that is a roll-on, roll-off where we can convert our tactical airlift platform into something that can drop retardant on wildland fire.”
MAFFS II equipped C-130s to carry a specialized fire-retardant compound to disperse over areas set ablaze by the wildland fires. This capability is a force multiplier to civilian and private fire-suppression aircraft during wildland firefighting.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to give back to the community and help communities in times of need. There’s always a need for that, even when we are not called up to serve,” said U.S. Air National Guard Master Sgt. Doug Benton, loadmaster assigned to the 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming. “It’s a privilege to wear the uniform and serve the communities during times like this.”
The Eaton Fire south of Angeles National Forest burned over 14,100 acres of land, destroyed over 5,300 structures and damaged more than 600. The larger of the two fires, the Pacific Palisades Fire, burned more than 23,700 acres of land, destroyed over 2,800 residential and commercial structures, and damaged an additional 500.
The MAFFS teams have done several drops since the fire’s outbreak, dousing heavily afflicted areas with retardant, effectively aiding in controlling the fire through the wildlands and minimizing further spread to areas with local homes and businesses.
The unique capabilities of the MAFFS aircraft are one aspect of USNORTHCOM’s Defense of Civil Authorities mission. They work year-round with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to ensure plans, communications, and interagency relationships are always ready to support our lead federal agencies in delivering the right military-unique capabilities at the right time and place.
“The MAFFS mission is excellent,” said Senior Master Sgt. Michana Greenberg, 302nd AW loadmaster. “Sometimes in our jobs, we don’t always see the direct impact we have, and that’s not true for MAFFS. It makes it very close to our hearts.”
Eight MAFFS IIs and Eleven USANG/USAFR’s C-130s in Action
On January 9, 2025, three C-130H-3 aircraft from the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing (AW) were activated in response to the escalating Southern California wildfires. Two of these aircraft, serial numbers 92-1531 and 92-1537, were equipped with Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems (MAFFS) II and deployed to Channel Islands Air National Guard Station (ANGS), home of the 146th AW, on January 11. The third C-130H-3, (92-1538), was held in reserve. This reserve aircraft subsequently replaced 92-1537, which was undergoing maintenance. As of January 26, 2025, the three C-130H-3s from the 153rd AW remained deployed at Channel Islands ANGS, with two aircraft actively conducting firefighting operations over northern Santa Clarita near Castaic Lake.
As the deployment of these C-130H-3s was extended, routine field inspections of the aircraft became necessary, which resulted in limited availability, with only one aircraft per squadron being operational at any given time. To mitigate this, each of the three C-130H-3 squadrons deployed an additional aircraft to California to serve as a replacement during maintenance periods. Upon arrival at Channel Islands ANGS, ground crews were tasked with quickly loading one of the two MAFFS II units for immediate use in firefighting operations.
On January 11, 2025, two C-130H-3s from the Nevada Air National Guard's 152nd AW (92-0548 and 92-0553) were deployed to Channel Islands ANGS. On the same day, the 302nd AW of the U.S. Air Force Reserve (USAFR) deployed two additional C-130H-3s (92-3021 and 94-7315). A third C-130H-3 from the 302nd AW (94-7320) was sent to Channel Islands ANGS on January 25, 2025. The 152nd AW also sent a third C-130H-3 (93-7313) on the same day. 152nd and 302nd AW aircraft were last seen conducting firefighting operations in Northern Los Angeles on January 23, 2025, and remained at Channel Islands ANGS as of the completion of this report on January 26, 2025.
The 115th Airlift Squadron (AS) of the California Air National Guard’s 146th AW, which operates eight aircraft, contributed to the firefighting efforts with two of its C-130J-30s. In recent years, these aircraft, ‘01-1461’ and ‘06-1467’, have been primarily utilized for firefighting operations. Notably, they carry unique pink recognition markings. They are assigned call signs ‘MAFFS6’ and ‘MAFFS8’ for easy identification by firefighting personnel, including Air Tactical Officers and observers aboard aircraft such as the OV-10A/D Broncos operated by Cal Fire.
As of January 26, 2025, the MAFFS II-equipped C-130s and their reserve aircraft continued to be stationed at Channel Islands ANGS, ready for ongoing aerial firefighting operations. In addition to the 11 C-130H-3 and C-130J-30 aircraft dedicated to firefighting, 24 aircraft from Cal Fire were engaged in the operations. These included fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft deployed in support of wildfire suppression efforts over two weeks.
Of the 24 civilian and non-government-owned aircraft involved in the firefighting operations, nine were air tankers, while the remainder were utilized for fire mapping and as air tactical platforms. The air tankers included a pair of McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 Very Large Air Tankers (VLATs) from 10 Tanker Air Carrier (N522AX and N603AX), seven Type I air tankers consisting of three McDonnell Douglas MD-87s from Erickson Aero Tanker and four British Aerospace BAe 146-200s from Neptune Aviation Services, as well as five Type II air tankers. The Type II fleet included two De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400(AT)s and a Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper from Aero-Lite, along with two CL-415s from Quebec Service Aérien Gouvernemental, one of which sustained damage during a mid-air collision with a first-person-view drone while engaged in firefighting operations.
