A Maine Air National Guard team on Sept. 23, 2009, flew the last of the Air Force’s E model KC-135 tankers from the 101st Air Refueling Wing at Bangor to Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., where the 50-plus-year-old aircraft will serve as a parts supplier for the slightly younger Eisenhower-era tankers—upgraded R/T models—remaining in the fleet. Aircraft No. 56-3630 has spent the past 20 years with the Maine Air Guard, and, in its heyday, it set a speed record, flying from New York to London and back in 12 hours. As the Air Force moves out with a new KC-X procurement effort to begin replacing KC-135Rs, 74 of the E model tankers will be in storage at the “boneyard” of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Aircraft Regeneration Group, whose technicians could restore the aircraft to service, if necessary. Continue
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.