USAF Breathing New Life Into Ancient KC-135 Tankers With This New Glass Cockpit - KC-135 new cockpit.jpg ...

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As we’ve said many times before, one of the U.S. military’s greatest strengths
is its ability to respond on short notice to crises anywhere in the world. It
has that capability in no small part thanks to a fleet aerial refueling tankers
give bombers, multi-role combat aircraft, and cargo planes essentially unlimited
range. So, it’s no surprise that the U.S. Air Force is looking to keep at least
a portion of its fleet of KC-135R Stratotankers flying for at least two more
decades, if not longer.

On Aug. 25, 2017, a KC-135R from the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air
Refueling Wing returned to its base in Sioux City after receiving a series of
upgrades to bring it up to the Block 45 standard. With the upgrade package, the
tankers get completely glass cockpits with large, central digital display, as
well as upgraded radio altimeters, autopilots, and digital flight directors, and
upgrades for various computer modules.

“The jet that we are bringing home was built in 1958 and most of the
instrumentation is original to the aircraft,” Lieutenant Colonel Shawn Streck,
the maintenance commander for the 185th, said, according to Avionics. “This
upgrade will put our aircraft on par with its civilian counterpart.”

The Block 45 upgrade relies heavily on commercially available systems to both
reduce cost and simplify up the modification process, which takes less than two
months on average. The modifications make the jets safer and more reliable, as
well as just providing a good opportunity to replace obsolete gear.

Specifically, the improved KC-135s have systems that can connect seamlessly with
civil navigation and air traffic control setups around the world, allowing them
to safely transit through both civilian and military air space without any undue
risk of accidents. The digital computers allow ground crews to easily install
software updates to keep these systems up to date, too.

On top of that, the new systems allow for the aircraft to take over some of the
work KC-135 crews used to have to do manually, including transferring
information from analog systems into digital ones. The updated equipment also
provides more accurate maintenance alerts and data, speeding up the repair
process if something breaks.

The Air Force says these additions could keep the aircraft airworthy and capable
through at least the 2040 fiscal year and possibly for another decade after
that. As of 2014, the Air Force had more than 400 KC-135 in service across the
active component, reserve, and Air National Guard.





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