Originally Posted by
sandiego89
1990 is quite a few years ago and the 1950’s when the 707 was designed are even longer ago and 707 based aircraft (JSTARS, AWACs and Mercury) are rapidly running out of life. Yes they have been well maintained and cared for, but support, spares, fatigue, and technology have caught up.
Eventual replacement - sure. But I don't get the 'urgent' part - the airframe may be 1950's technology, but the airframes themselves are low hour (especially compared to other 1950's airframes currently in service like the KC-135 and B-52), and the rest is 1980's technology (i.e. a decade newer than the AWACS and JSTARS).
If the requirement is for a long loiter time, I don't know that a C-130 would be my first choice...