The last remaining U.S. Air Force EC-130H Compass Call made its final flight this week alongside an EA-37B, the modified Gulfstream 550 that will replace it.
Per a photo release Wednesday from the 355th Wing based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, the EC-130H and EA-73B flew in formation together for the first time. According to the 355th, EC-130H crews have flown over 76,000 combat hours over the past 20 years. Soon, it will join the Air Force’s already retired EC-130Hs in the boneyard at Davis-Monthan once the branch transitions its “compass call” mission systems to the Gulfstream business jets.
“The aircraft symbolize the continuation of a critical combat capability that enables U.S. and coalition forces to disrupt, deny, and degrade adversary command and control networks,” reads the caption under a photo of the formation flight shared by the 355th.
Air & Space Forces Magazine confirmed that the EC-130H that made its swan song flight this week was the last of its kind in the Air Force’s active inventory. The magazine reported that a formal retirement ceremony for the Compass Call will be September 18 at Davis-Monthan, home to the 55th Electronic Combat Group that was its sole military operator.
The EC-130H made its first flight in 1981, was delivered to the Air Force in ’82, and reached initial operating capability in ’83, according to an Air Force fact sheet. It would go on to make combat deployments in places including Afghanistan over the following decades.
The type is based on a heavily modified C-130H Hercules airframe. It is designed to disrupt enemy communications, radar, or navigation signals. The fact sheet describes it as an airborne tactical weapon system whose primary functions are electronic warfare, enemy air defense suppression, and offensive counter information.
The aircraft is powered by four Allison T56-A-15 turboprops. It can fly up to 300 mph and as high as 25,000 feet, with a range of 2,295 miles.
The Air Force EC-130Hs have been equipped for aerial refueling and received many upgrades over the years that have allowed them to counter new and emergent communications systems. Per a U.S. Central Command fact sheet published in April, at least one was deployed to Iran for Operation Epic Fury this year.
The first of the EC-130Hs to be retired made its final flight in 2020. In 2017, L3Harris (then L3 Technologies) won a contract to “re-host” the aircraft’s mission systems on the newer Gulfstream jets, and it has been steadily phased out.
The EA-37Bs will fulfill the same mission carrying up to nine personnel, lower than its predecessor’s capacity of 13. However, the modified business jets will fly faster (up to 600 mph), farther (6,300 miles), and higher (51,000 feet) than the EC-130H. They are powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce BR710C4-11 turbofans.
Air Combat Command took delivery of the first EA-37B at Davis-Monthan in August 2024, and the aircraft made its first training sortie in May 2025. Online aviation news outlet AeroTime reported in April that the newer Compass Call made its first combat deployment in Iran earlier this year despite the type not yet being declared operational.
Air & Space Forces reported that the Air Force has received only half of the 10 EA-37Bs it has ordered. The branch in its fiscal year 2027 budget request revealed plans to procure up to 22 of them through 2031.