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, and 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.