Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker – A hero above the clouds

Far from the battlefield, high above the clouds fly planes unknown to the public, yet critical in winning any battle.

Most known military planes are fighter jets intercepting, shooting down and fighting enemy aircrafts. Another type of commonly known military plane is bombers being able to cause massive damage to enemy infrastructure. Meanwhile above the clouds fly extremely important planes forgotten by everyone. Those planes are air refueling and intelligence aircrafts . That’s where the military versions of the Boeing 707 and 367 come in.

Most known planes in this family are:

• Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker – air refueling aircraft
• Boeing C-135 Stratolifter – transport aircraft
• Boeing WC-135 Constant Phoenix – nuclear detection aircraft
• Boeing C-137 Stratoliner – VIP passenger aircraft (retired)
• Boeing E-3 Sentry – AWACS aircraft (airborne warning and control system)

Air refueling was thought to be impossible by the early pilots, the dream of being airborne forever was just too much to be true. But on June 25, 1923, it was archived by two Airco DH-4B biplanes allowing a flight across the United States. Although this year we had the 100th anniversary of this major event in aviation we still rely on tankers keeping both planes used for science as well as military aircrafts. Just 30 years later in 1955 the KC-135 was developed. Almost 70 years later it is still in use although slowly being replaced by newer models such as the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus. When the KC-125 was deployed it was tasked with refueling strategic bombers, which was very important to the United States during the Cold War. Later it was also used to extend the range of fighters and bombers during conflicts such as the Vietnam war or Operation Desert Storm.

Many planes remain unknown to the public, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. So next time you think about military planes remember as in every team even though we see one or two stars we forget about everyone behind the scenes.

Przemyslaw Kedra / S4EN enrichment / EEB1 Uccle