Despite suffering hydraulic failure, the WC-135 ‘Constant Phoenix’ landed safely at RAF Mildenhall in the UK after a patrol over the Baltic Sea yesterday evening.
You can listen to the emergency declaration recorded by Twitter user @EHEH_Spotter by clicking the video below. I recommend you follow them for more.
JAKE 21 WC-135W 61-2667 rtb to Mildenhall Squawking 7700 declaring an emergency with Hydraulic failure working Swan Mil 259.600 #NLspot pic.twitter.com/aIq7O8VCiB
— ''The Lazy 🌴 Garden 🌴'' Eindhoven Spotter 🇳🇱 (@EHEH_Spotter) February 22, 2022
The aircraft arrived in the UK recently and has been operating out of RAF Mildenhall.
🚨 NEWS | An American aircraft designed to 'sniff' radioactivity associated with nuclear material, a WC-135 'Constant Phoenix', declared an emergency whilst returning to the UK after a patrol over the Baltic Sea yesterday evening. pic.twitter.com/JK68KtfpMn
— George Allison (@geoallison) February 23, 2022
Previously, 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 aircraft doesn’t usually stay in a region for too long before heading back to the United States.
More notably, back in 2017 an aircraft was deployed to RAF Mildenhall to conduct missions over Europe after air quality stations across the continent detected traces of radioactive Iodine-131.
The aircraft has been sued previously to trace radioactivity from Russian submarines.
Historically, the WC-135W fleet played a major role in tracking radioactive debris from the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster.
What is the WC-135W?
The WC-135 ‘Constant Phoenix’ is U.S. Air Force a special-purpose aircraft derived from the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter (as also with the RC-135 ‘Rivet Joint’ signals intelligence aircraft used by the Royal Air Force).
According to the U.S. Air Force, its mission is to collect samples from the atmosphere for the purpose of detecting and identifying nuclear explosions.
According to military.com here, the Constant Phoenix has an on-board atmospheric collection suite, which allows the mission crew to detect radioactive “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 holding spheres.
Curious to know if the US has any plans for a more modern replacement for these airframes?
“In April 2018 it was announced that three KC-135R tanker aircraft would be converted as WC-135R Constant Phoenix aircraft to replace the two aircraft operated by the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron. The first aircraft is scheduled to be converted by L3 Technologies at Greenville, Texas starting in September 2019.”
Off-topic, but I thought I’d mention this as a suggestion for Tempest in light of the current situation in Europe. “But it is a design intended from the outset to evolve. It will be produced in successive blocks, which will incorporate new capabilities, with more advanced materials and construction techniques, which will bring this aircraft to the same level as 5th generation aircraft such as the F-35 It should be remembered that, although it may not look like it, the KF-21 Boramae is an aircraft that in its present incarnation belongs to the 4.5 generation of fighters, similar to a… Read more »
Even then though I think the last KC-135 was 1965? An improvement but not a big one. Shame they can’t work off of a newer airframe type.
I believe they are dragging 3 kc135 with the lowest airframe hours out of the boneyard for conversion. I still don’t know if the RAF replaced the 3 VC10 K3s that were equipped to carry the same mission equipment. Yes we had nuke sniffers too, I know I flew on them.
I guess that’s why they keep things in the boneyard. Just thought a new conversion based on maybe a 767 would be better for service life.
I have heard about the VC10 nuke sniffers, not sure if there is anything in the inventory now that can do it. Probably something else we have left to the Americans.
Yes, I noted that when you mentioned the other week. I’ve never heard of such on the Voyagers.
The Voyagers won’t be used it was never part of the PFI, I did hear rumours of Protectors being equipped for such a role but have nothing more, so just rumours. As a matter of interest the underwing pods we used on the Vicky 10 were converted Javelin drop tanks. Before the VC10 took on the role it was carried out by the Avro Vulcan.
I guess that as long as you didn’t need to analyse the sample while airborne, a simple pod mounted on any suitable aircraft could capture what’s needed for checking back at base. Does the UK still operates weather aircraft, as these are already designed for taking samples?
We did analyse whilst airbourne. I won’t go into or the technical details. You won’t find much in the public domain, I can’t anyway. It was and is a vital capability and it is a shame we have lost it if that is the case.
It would be relatively easy with COTS MS (Mass Spec) to do that now. The size of the modern MS would fit into a carrier bag anyway. You only need the isotope profile anyway.
Nothing secret about that.
Air sample concentration gear is all commercial now anyway and off the shelf for monitoring things like building sites.
This sort of stuff would do it.
https://www.agilent.com/en/product/liquid-chromatography-mass-spectrometry-lc-ms/lc-ms-instruments?gclid=Cj0KCQiA09eQBhCxARIsAAYRiyk8jV91DST3hfBU7sejuuaZi1abiAfdk-BLwa2JQM_ffp1enGS8PQYaAmzsEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Concentrate with a wet collection and then run through MS.
I think the old stuff was revolving disk based which is now a very outdated way of doing air sampling.
The last time I flew a mission like this was when North Korea set one off in 2006. I believe the kit we used was own by by AWRE. The detectors and g counters on the floor had date stamps 1952 on them.
Things have moved on since 1952 in terms of sensitivity and compactness.
You definitely could put a very decent COTS rig into a drop tank body or much smaller.
That would give very accurate real time data of isotope ratios and concentrations.
To be honest with modern H&S a drone would be a better option anyway as the risk of contamination from flying through a radioactive cloud is not a nice thought.
At least you could assess a drone and if needs be give it a remote hose down. Bit harder with a multi engine jet and all its nooks and crannies.
Technology changed so much with table mounted analysers think u could bang it on drone easily
I think the Met office use a Bae 146.
God that reminds me, the RAFs Herc with the long nose! I’d forgotten about that.
Fondly known as Snoopy
Of course! I’d forgotten that. I still have books showing her off. Was at Boscombe if I remember correctly.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-60496122
The DS says Russia has no allies in this crisis.
He forgets China!
China is only allied with China, they wont help Russia but wont get in their way either.
Is China an ally in this. If it goes sour I don’t think China will be helping out. At the very most China has encouraged Vlad The Unhinged to be a useful idiot and to see what the West actually do and how capable the West are of stuffing things up for him. If Russian planes start dropping from the sky and S400 batteries start to do funny things like shoot their own planes down then China would swallow hard and say that Taiwan had to be left along for a while. As we have discussed before if Russia looses… Read more »
I’m sure the Chicoms have already told Putin they would be very grateful if they could have a few of the Javelins, Stingers and whatever else the Russians pick up during this war.
Plenty of Stingers went walkies before this. Way back when the Russians were trying to occupy Afghanistan. There were two components designed with a very short shelf life to mitigate this risk.
Javelins I’m not sure about.
Let’s put it this way I **suspect** we are not sending absolutely the latest generations of these weapons with the latest seekers etc
Aside from the ‘no allies’ remark, I much prefer Wallace to the mealy mouthed types. I think the Russians only respect people who speak like peasants, or, as here, right hard nuts. Incidentally, the an B.B.C. thinks the Crimean War was won by among others of less significance, Mary Seacole. Honest.
At least in America people aren’t allowed to say negative things about China. If you do you are banned from social media and labeled a racist even though Chinese isn’t a race but a nationality. PC gone to the extreme.
Reading the headlines below. Balistic missile defence slips to 2029, Integration of Meteor missile on F35B slips to 2027, delay likely in fitting air to surface missile to F35. Not to mention the land attack & Antiship missiles…What’s wrong with the british defence industry – there could well have been a war fought and over with the carriers on the seabed by the time they sort their act out.
There is a contingency plan. We broadcast ‘Please don’t attack us until we are ready’.
What ballistic missle defence? Didn’t think we had any??
We don’t, TR uses the wrong word. We have BM warning only.
“Integration of Meteor missile on F35B slips to 2027, delay likely in fitting air to surface missile to F35. Not to mention the land attack & Antiship missiles…What’s wrong with the british defence industry”
Ask Lockheed Martin. It is Block IV that will enable all that, not British industry.
Block IV is delayed.
We’ve been going nuts about this for years but nothing changes. I really seems deliberate dis-arming. HMG always says everything is fine.