RC-135V/W Rivet Joint

RC-135V/W Rivet Joint (Reconnaissance aircraft) – 8

Manufacturer: Boeing

Number built: 32 total airframes in all iterations

Developed from: C-135 Stratolifter

Crew: 27: 3 pilots, 2 navigators, 22 rear-crew members

Length: 41.53 m

Wingspan: 39.88 m

Height: 12.70 m

Wing area: 226 m²

Empty weight: 79,545 kg

Loaded weight: 135,000 kg

Max. takeoff weight: 146,000 kg

Powerplant: 4× CFM International F-108-CF-201 turbofan engines, 9,789 kgf (96 kN) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 933 km/h

Range: 5,550 km

Service ceiling: 15,200 m

Rate of climb: 1,490 m/min

The RC-135V/W is the USAF's standard airborne SIGINT platform. Its sensor suite allows the mission crew to detect, identify and geolocate signals throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. The mission crew can then forward gathered information in a variety of formats to a wide range of consumers via Rivet Joint's extensive communications suite. The crew consists of the cockpit crew, electronic warfare officers, intelligence operators, and airborne systems maintenance personnel. All Rivet Joint airframe and mission systems modifications are performed by L-3 Communications in Greenville, Texas, under the oversight of the Air Force Materiel Command.

Under the «BIG SAFARI» program name, RC-135Vs were upgraded from the RC-135C «Big Team» configuration, itself a mission modified RC-135B (the first version delivered). RC-135Ws were originally delivered as C-135B transports, and most were modified from RC-135Ms. For many years, the RC-135V/W could be identified by the four large disc-capped MUCELS antennas forward, four somewhat smaller blade antennae aft and myriad of smaller underside antennas. Baseline 8 Rivet Joints (in the 2000s) introduced the first major change to the external RC-135V/W configuration replacing the MUCELS antennas with plain blade antennas. The configuration of smaller underside antennas was also changed significantly.