Four RAF crews will soon begin Rivet Joint Training with the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.In early December the French air force sent Mirage fighters clutching electronic-intelligence pods across the Black Sea around Crimea. During the gap between retirement of the Nimrod R.1 and arrival of the first RC-135, British crewmembers will serve aboard U. The three modified aircraft, once fitted out as RC-135s, will join the RAF beginning in 2014. The RAF’s E-3D Sentry airborne warning planes have both refueling probes and receptacles for the U.S. It has not been announced whether the RAF Rivet Joints will be modified with refueling probes to make them compatible with British tankers, which use only the probe-and-drogue refueling system. deal includes modification kits, integration and installation, Ground Distributed Processing Station, Modular Processing System, Airborne Capability Extension System, mission trainer, tools and test equipment, spare and repair parts, and other support. The aircraft will be modified with APX-119 Identification Friend or Foe Systems, LN-100GT Inertial Reference Units, Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (Link 16) terminals, ARC-210 radios and ARC-210 radio control heads. Now, three former KC-135R Stratotankers are being pulled out of storage and modified by L-3 Systems in Greenville, Texas at a reported cost of $350 million each. The Rivet Joint aircraft, owned and operated by the 55th Wing, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., provides direct, near real-time reconnaissance information and electronic warfare support to theater commanders and combat forces. The aircraft is a high-altitude version of the C-135, which is a militarized version of the Boeing 707. The hog-nosed RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, with its extensive antennae array, provides vital real-time battle management information to mission planners, commanders, and warfighters. The defense review also kills a uniquely British airborne intelligence collection system intended for the Nimrod R.1 and known as Helix. It was an inevitable victim of Britain’s recent Strategic Defence and Security Review As a result of that review, Britain is cutting its $59 billion defense budget by 8 percent in real terms over four years to address budget deficits. The Nimrod MRA.4, only one of which has flown, has been plagued by delays, cost overruns, and contract re-negotiations. 51 Squadron in Afghanistan.īritain is also canceling nine Nimrod MRA.4 maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The plan remains in effect despite Britain’s recently announced defense cuts that include retirement by March 2011 of the remaining two Nimrod R.1s (of three built) that have been providing electronic intelligence (ELINT) with No. The plan for the RAF to operate three Rivet Joints was finalized in a March 19, 2010, Anglo-American agreement. Now, plans are shaping up for Britain’s Royal Air Force to have its own RC-135Ws, manned by British crews and flying in British colors. The Boeing RC-135V/W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft – using the same airframe as the KC-135 Stratotanker – is a familiar sight at overseas bases and along the borders of countries the United States wants to learn more about.
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