Who signed this baby out of L3? Aircraft don't just levitate without someone signing her off...how did it get to the UK???
From Aviation Week:
The aircraft — ZZ664 — arrived at Waddington on Nov. 12 after a flight from Majors Field in Greenville, Texas, via Bangor, Maine. The aircraft, which was converted from a 1964-vintage KC-135R tanker, is the first of three RC-135s destined for the RAF under the Airseeker program, filling the capability gap in electronic and signals-intelligence gathering left open by the retirement of the Nimrod R1 in 2011.
The RAF is the first export customer for the Rivet Joint, and the $1 billion program is considered to be one of the most complex Foreign Military Sales purchases ever completed between the U.K. and the U.S.
ZZ664 was rolled out of L-3’s facilities in Greenville in early May and made its first post-conversion flight at the end of July. According to RAF officials, the aircraft achieved its flight trials ahead of schedule, allowing it to be delivered early.
The RAF is due to declare an initial operating capability with a single RC-135 in October 2014; new aircraft will then be delivered every two years, with full operating capability expected in mid-2017, six months earlier than initially planned.