Boeing RC-135W Spy plane

[The SC]

The Boeing RC-135 is a family of large reconnaissance aircraft built by Boeing and modified by a number of companies, including General Dynamics, Lockheed, LTV, E-Systems, and L-3 Communications, and used by the United States Air Force and Royal Air Force to support theater and national level intelligence consumers with near real-time on-scene collection, analysis and dissemination capabilities. Based on the C-135 Stratolifter airframe, various types of RC-135s have been in service since 1961. Unlike the C-135 and KC-135 which are recognized by Boeing as the Model 717,[3] the RC-135 is internally designated as the Model 739 by the company. Many variants have been modified numerous times, resulting in a large variety of designations, configurations, and program names.

RC-135W Rivet Joint (Project Airseeker)




British RC-135W lands at RAF Waddington in May 2014
The United Kingdom is buying three KC-135R aircraft for conversion to RC-135W Rivet Joint standard[1] under the Airseeker project.[28] Acquisition of the three aircraft is budgeted at £634m (~US$905m), with entry into service planned for October 2014.[29] The aircraft will form No. 51 Squadron RAF, based at RAF Waddington along with the RAF's other ISTAR assets. They are expected to remain in British service until 2045.

Previously, the Royal Air Force had gathered signals intelligence with three Nimrod R1,[7] converted in the 1970s from the Nimrod MR1 maritime patrol aircraft. When the time came to upgrade the maritime Nimrods to MRA4 standard, Project Helix was launched in August 2003 to study options for extending the life of the R1 out to 2025.[30] The option of switching to Rivet Joint was added to Helix in 2008,[30] and the retirement of the R1 became inevitable when the MRA4 was cancelled under the UK's 2010 budget cuts. The R1's involvement over Libya in Operation Ellamy delayed its retirement until June 2011.

Helix became Project Airseeker, under which three KC-135R airframes are being converted to RC-135W standard by L-3 Communications. L-3 will also provide ongoing maintenance and upgrades under a long-term agreement. The three airframes are former United States Air Force KC-135Rs, all of which first flew in 1964 but will be modified to the latest RC-135W standard before delivery. The three airframes on offer to the UK are the youngest KC-135s in the USAF fleet.[31] As of September 2010 the aircraft had approximately 23,200 flying hours, 22,200 hours and 23,200 hours.[32]

51 Sqn personnel began training at Offutt in January 2011 for conversion to the RC-135.[33] The first RC-135W (ZZ664) was delivered ahead of schedule to the Royal Air Force on 12 November 2013, for final approval and testing by the Defence Support and Equipment team prior to its release to service from the UK MAA. The second one was once again delivered ahead of schedule on 4 September 2015 at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk. The third is scheduled to be delivered and fully operational by December 2017.[34]



RC-135V/W Rivet Joint



RC-135 Rivet Joint
The RC-135V/W is the USAF's standard airborne SIGINT platform. Its sensor suite allows the mission crew to detect, identify and geolocate signals throughout the electromagnetic spectrum.[24] The mission crew can then forward gathered information in a variety of formats to a wide range of consumers via Rivet Joint's extensive communications suite. The crew consists of the cockpit crew, electronic warfare officers, intelligence operators, and airborne systems maintenance personnel. All Rivet Joint airframe and mission systems modifications are performed by L-3 Communications in Greenville, Texas, under the oversight of the Air Force Materiel Command.[4][24]

All RC-135s are assigned to Air Combat Command. The RC-135 is permanently based at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska., and operated by the 55th Wing, using various forward deployment locations worldwide.[24]

Under the "BIG SAFARI" program name, RC-135Vs were upgraded from the RC-135C "Big Team" configuration. RC-135Ws were originally delivered as C-135B transports, and most were modified from RC-135Ms. This is the only difference between the V and W variants; both carry the same mission equipment. For many years, the RC-135V/W could be identified by the four large disc-capped MUCELS antennas forward, four somewhat smaller blade antennae aft and myriad of smaller underside antennas. Baseline 8 Rivet Joints (in the 2000s) introduced the first major change to the external RC-135V/W configuration replacing the MUCELS antennas with plain blade antennas. The configuration of smaller underside antennas was also changed significantly.

https://en.wiki2.org/wiki/Boeing_RC-135

 

[Penguin]

..."spy plane"

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