Boeing RC-135
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, L3Harris Technologies, and used by the United States Air Force and Royal Air Force to produce theater and national level intelligence with near real-time on-scene collection, analysis and dissemination capabilities.
Based on the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter airframe, various types of RC-135s have been in service since 1961. Unlike the KC-135, which is recognized by Boeing as the Model 717, most of the current RC-135 fleet, with the exception of the RAF's RC-135Ws, 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.
Design and development
In 1962, the first RC-135 variant, the [|RC-135A], was ordered by the United States Air Force to replace the Boeing RB-50 Superfortress. Originally nine were ordered but this was later reduced to four. Boeing allocated the variant the designation Boeing 739-700 but they were a modified variant of the KC-135A then in production. They used the same Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines as the tanker and carried cameras in a bay just aft of the nose wheel well where the forward fuel tank was normally located. They had no in-flight refueling system and they were used for photographic and surveying tasks. Although the RC-135A was the first designation in the RC-135 family, it was not the first RC-135 in service. That distinction belongs to the [|RC-135S], which began operational reconnaissance missions in 1961, followed by the [|RC-135D] in 1962.The next variant ordered was the [|RC-135B], to be used as an electronic intelligence aircraft to replace the Boeing RB-47H Stratojet, a SIGINT platform. Unlike the earlier variants, the RC-135Bs had Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofans rather than the older J57s. These ten aircraft were delivered directly to Martin Aircraft beginning in 1965 for installation of their operational electronics suite. By 1967, they emerged as RC-135Cs and all entered service that year. The refueling boom was not fitted and the boom operator station was used as a camera bay for a KA-59 camera. Externally, the aircraft were distinguished by the large cheek antenna fairings on the forward fuselage.
The RC-135Bs were the last of the new aircraft built. All further reconnaissance variants that followed were modified aircraft, either from earlier RC-135 variants or from tankers and transports.
In 2005, the RC-135 fleet completed a series of significant airframe, navigation and powerplant upgrades, which include re-engining from the TF33 to the CFM International CFM-56 engines used on the KC-135R and T Stratotanker, and an upgrade of the flight deck instrumentation and navigation systems to the Avionics Modernization Program standard. The AMP standard includes conversion from analog readouts to a digital glass cockpit configuration.
Operational history
The current RC-135 fleet is the latest iteration of modifications to this pool of aircraft dating back to the early 1960s. Initially employed by Strategic Air Command for reconnaissance, the RC-135 fleet has participated in every armed conflict involving U.S. forces during its tenure. RC-135s supported operations in Vietnam War, the Mediterranean for Operation El Dorado Canyon, Grenada for Operation Urgent Fury, Panama for Operation Just Cause, the Balkans for Operations Deliberate Force and Allied Force, and Southwest Asia for Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. RC-135s have maintained a constant presence in Southwest Asia since the early 1990s. They were stalwarts of Cold War operations, with missions flown around the periphery of the USSR and its client states in Europe and around the world.Originally, all RC-135s were operated by Strategic Air Command. Since 1992, they have been assigned to Air Combat Command. The RC-135 fleet is permanently based at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska and operated by the 55th Wing, using forward operating locations worldwide.
On 9 August 2010, the Rivet Joint program recognized its 20th anniversary of continuous service in Central Command, dating back to the beginning of Desert Shield. This represents the longest unbroken presence of any aircraft in the Air Force inventory. During this time it has flown over 8,000 combat missions supporting air and ground forces of Operations Desert Storm, Desert Shield, Northern Watch, Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
In March 2010 the British Ministry of Defence announced that it reached an agreement with the US Government to purchase three RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft to replace the Nimrod R1, which was retired in June 2011. The aircraft, to be styled as [|'Airseeker'], were scheduled to be delivered by 2017 at a total cost of around £650 million, including provision of ground infrastructure, training of personnel and ground supporting systems. In 2013, the UK government confirmed that crews from the RAF's 51 Squadron had been training and operating alongside their USAF colleagues since 2011, having achieved in excess of 32,000 flying hours and 1,800 sorties as part of the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB.
The RAF received the first RC-135W in September 2013, which was deployed from July 2014 to support coalition action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants in Iraq. The second aircraft was delivered seven months ahead of schedule in September 2015, with over sixty improvements incorporated ranging from upgrades to the aircraft's mission systems to engine improvements providing increased fuel efficiency and durability. In due course, the first aircraft will receive the same upgrades. The aircraft can only be air-to-air refuelled in service by USAF tankers based in Europe, since the UK does not operate boom-equipped refueling aircraft, and has no plans to adapt drogue-equipped aircraft.
U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft were deployed numerous times to conduct reconnaissance missions around Poland and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad during the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Stated objectives include broadcasting a clear signal that the US, and thus NATO, is aware of Russian movements in the area of operations.
Variants
KC-135A Reconnaissance Platforms
At least four KC-135A tankers were converted into makeshift reconnaissance platforms with no change of Mission Design Series designation. KC-135As 55–3121, 55–3127, 59–1465, and 59-1514 were modified beginning in 1961. That year the Soviet Union announced its intention to detonate a 100 megaton thermonuclear device on Novaya Zemlya, the so-called Tsar Bomba. A testbed KC-135A was modified under the Big Safari program to the SPEED LIGHT BRAVO configuration in order to obtain intelligence information on the test. The success of the mission prompted conversion of additional aircraft for intelligence gathering duties.KC-135R Rivet Stand / Rivet Quick
Not to be confused with the CFM F108-powered KC-135R tanker, the KC-135R MDS was applied in 1963 to the three KC-135A reconnaissance aircraft under the Rivet Stand program. The three aircraft were 55–3121, 59–1465, and 59–1514. A fourth, serial no. 58–0126, was converted in 1969 to replace 1465, which crashed in 1967. Externally the aircraft had varied configurations throughout their careers, but generally they were distinguished by five "towel bar" antennas along the spine of the upper fuselage and a radome below the forward fuselage.The first three aircraft retained the standard tanker nose radome, while 58-0126 was fitted with the 'hog nose' radome commonly associated with an RC-135. A trapeze-like structure in place of the refueling boom which was used to trail an aerodynamic shape housing a specialized receiver array, colloquially known as a "blivet", on a wire was installed. This was reported to be used for "Briar Patch" and "Combat Lion" missions. There were four small optically flat windows on each side of the forward fuselage.
On some missions, a small wing-like structure housing sensors was fitted to each side of the forward fuselage, with a diagonal brace below it. With the loss of 59–1465, KC-135A 58-0126 was modified to this standard under the Rivet Quick operational name. All four aircraft were lost in accidents or converted to KC-135R tanker configurations. They are among the few KC-135 tankers equipped with an aerial refueling receptacle above the cockpit, a remnant of their service as intelligence gathering platforms.
KC-135T Cobra Jaw
In 1969, KC-135R 55-3121 was modified by Lockheed Air Services to the unique KC-135T configuration, under the Cobra Jaw program name. Externally distinguished by the 'hog nose' radome, the aircraft featured spinning "fang" receiver antennas below the nose radome, a large blade antenna above the forward fuselage, a single 'towel bar' antenna on the spine, teardrop antennas forward of the horizontal stabilizers on each side, and the trapeze-like structure in place of the refueling boom. The aircraft briefly carried nose art consisting of the Ford Cobra Jet cartoon cobra. It was later modified into an RC-135T Rivet Dandy.RC-135A
Four RC-135As were photo mapping platforms used briefly by the Air Photographic & Charting Service, based at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia and later at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas as part of the 1370th Photographic Mapping Wing. The mission was soon assumed by satellites, and the RC-135As were de-modified and used in various other roles, such as staff transport and crew training.In the early 1980s they were converted to tankers, with the designation KC-135D, of the same basic configuration as the KC-135A and later E, plus some remaining special mission equipment. Due to delays in reinstalling their original equipment, the RC-135As were the last of the entire C-135 series delivered to the USAF. The Boeing model number for the RC-135A is 739-700.