L-3 to deliver Rivet Joint aircraft to UK
LONDON — Britain is set to take delivery of its second Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft from US contractor L-3 Communications in the next few weeks according to sources familiar with the program. The new aircraft will join the first RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft delivered to the Royal Air Force in late 2013 to replace BAE Nimrod R1 spy planes.......
Both Rivet Joint aircraft have been delivered ahead of schedule. The spokesman said the official delivery date for the second aircraft had been April 2016.
The aircraft, modified from a KC-135R tanker, has been converted by contractor L-3 at its facility in Greenville, Texas. The British signed a contract to take delivery of three Rivet Joints, known as the Airseeker in the UK, in a $1 billion foreign military sales deal in 2010.
The second aircraft is "conducting mission calibration tests prior to formal acceptance testing," the spokesman said. The third aircraft in the fleet is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2017 said the spokesman.