The US Air Force is to replace its Vietnam-era electronic warfare aircraft, EC-130H Compass Call. USAF is planning to transfer the systems on 10 Compass Call aircraft to the new airframe, dubbed the EC-X, buying an existing commercial airframe to replace the aging C-130 frames. The EC-130H program was launched in 1983 and have since served in many operations, such as Libya, Iraq, Serbia and Afghanistan.

L3 Communications, the current contractor for the Compass Call, will decide which aircraft to buy and then handle the re-installing of the systems. The Air Force plans to field its first new EC-X Compass Call by the end of 2020 and estimates the cost as about $2 billion.