WC-135 Constant Phoenix
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:WC-135 Constant Phoenix.jpg
WC-135 Constant Phoenix is a special purpose aircraft of the USAF, a version of the C-135.
Contents |
Mission
The WC-135C and WC-135W Constant Phoenix atmospheric collection aircraft support national level consumers by collecting particulate debris and gaseous effluents from accessible regions of the atmosphere in support of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.
Features
The WC-135W (tail number 61-2667) is a modified C-135B. The WC-135C (tail number 62-3582) is an extensively modified former EC-135C Looking Glass aircraft. The Constant Phoenix’s modifications are primarily related to the aircraft's on-board atmospheric collection suite, which allows the mission crew to detect radioactive debris“clouds” in real time. The aircraft is equipped with external flow-through devices to collect particulates on filter paper and a compressor system for whole air samples collected in high-pressure holding spheres.
The interior seats 33 people, including the cockpit crew, maintenance personnel, and special equipment operators from the Air Force Technical Applications Center.
Background
General Dwight D. Eisenhower commissioned the Constant Phoenix program on September 16, 1947 when he charged the Army Air Forces with the overall responsibility for detecting atomic explosions anywhere in the world. In September 1949, a WB-29 flying between Alaska and Japan detected nuclear debris from Russia’s first atomic test--an event thought not possible until mid-1950.
Beginning in August 1950, WB-50 aircraft were converted for the air-sampling mission over a two-year period. WC-135 aircraft began replacing the WB-50s in December 1965 and became the workhorse of the atmospheric collection program.
Air sampling missions were routinely conducted over the Far East, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, Mediterranean Sea, the Polar regions, and off the coasts of South America and Africa. The WC-135W played a major role in tracking radioactive debris from the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. Currently the air-sampling mission is tasked to support the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which prohibits any nation from testing nuclear weapons above ground. The 45th Reconnaissance Squadron at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, works closely with AFTAC to verify if any illegal testing of nuclear weapons has occurred. The WC-135C and WC-135W are currently the only aircraft in the inventory conducting air-sampling operations.