Originally Posted by
vascodegama
AQ I think the author refers to UK-based USAF KC 135s. Not even the RAF would take the ac from the desert and make it back into a tanker and then convert it again, still you never know!
Where do people get the idea that the RAF RC-135s are being pulled out the boneyard in the desert (other than the tabloid press)?
They are the youngest KCs in the USAF inventory, and have been in service as tankers until they went into the conversion scheme - one was used in ops in Lybya, and the last is still in service, and visited the UK in company with the B2s in June:
Photos: Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker (717-148) Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net
and in February
Photos: Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker (717-148) Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net