RAT55

[GunnyGene]

A very unusual plane you likely never heard of.



https://www.twz.com/air/worlds-most-sec ... appearance

Excerpt:

RAT55, U.S. Air Force Materiel Command’s extremely shy NT-43A/737-200 converted into a grotesquely modified radar cross-section measurement platform just flew across the country for an unknown reason. During its trip, it made two stops, one in Arkansas and one in Texas, the latter offering very rare close-up views of Earth’s most fascinating 737 going about its business.

RAT55 arrived at Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo, Texas, “at 2:40 pm and departed at 3:40 pm. It was cleared back to Tenopah Test Range Airport,” Jason Zicker, an aviation photographer who took the videos below and posted them on social media, told TWZ. Zicker said he was alerted to RAT55’s arrival by a fellow plane spotter.

[Sir Henry]

That is cool!

[cooperhawk]

I suspect that it's the newer version of the EC135 that the Air Force used to use to gather electronic intelligence and provide Command and Control.
A few years back one of those ECs crashed and it turned out it was full of AF dependents on a special trip to show them
what their Father's did for work. Everyone was killed.
When I was an Air Traffic Control Supervisor these things flew 24/7 with one always in the air. It was of course, Top Secret.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-ai ... system.htm

[GunnyGene]

That is cool!

There's probably a replacement plane in work at some super secret location since this airframe is getting pretty old and will have to be retired at some point.

[GunnyGene]

I suspect that it's the newer version of the EC135 that the Air Force used to use to gather electronic intelligence and provide Command and Control.
A few years back one of those ECs crashed and it turned out it was full of AF dependents on a special trip to show them
what their Father's did for work. Everyone was killed.
When I was an Air Traffic Control Supervisor these things flew 24/7 with one always in the air. It was of course, Top Secret.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-ai ... system.htm

Totally different mission for RAT55 than the EC135. The article explains it.

[CT_Shooter]

Just picking up some good BBQ for the Holiday weekend.

[cooperhawk]

Totally different mission for RAT55 than the EC135. The article explains it.

The old mission was "Operation Looking Glass". or as we referred to it at work, "The Looker", and that mission ended with the fall of the
Berlin Wall and the end of the cold war.

I've been out of govt of 25 years now and can only surmise what the new mission might be, but
it could have to do with some new defense initiative or just intelligence gathering.

[cooperhawk]

Come to think of it the AC could be the new AWACs. Airborne Warning and Control. They used to be built on the
B135 air frame but with the minituration of electronics the smaller airframe could probably work.

[GunnyGene]

Come to think of it the AC could be the new AWACs. Airborne Warning and Control. They used to be built on the
B135 air frame but with the minituration of electronics the smaller airframe could probably work.

No. The RAT55 is specific to evaluation of US Stealth aircraft radar cross section and has nothing to do with AWACs. And there is only one of them.

From the article:

The “RAT” in the name stands for Radar Airborne Testbed, while the “55” refers to the last two digits in its tail number. RAT55 spends most of its flying life in the vast and remote range complexes that span South-Central California and Southern Nevada. The aircraft seems to live at the high-security Tonopah Test Range Airport (TTR) — famous for its shadowy aircraft programs — and spends time in the skies near Area 51 and Edwards Air Force Base. While the one-off NT-43A has ventured beyond its usual protected operational confines — it needs major servicing just like any other 737 — usually these trips seem to be planned to expose the aircraft to minimal public eyeballs. That is clearly no longer the goal.

Regardless, RAT55 is unlike any other aircraft on the planet, and it is absolutely critical to the development and sustainment of America’s aerial stealth technology. Simply put, RAT55 uses its two huge radar arrays — one front and one back — to take fine measurements of the radar signatures of stealthy aircraft while flying through the air near them. It does this to validate low-observable designs and skin treatments. It also has electro-optical/infrared capabilities above its radomes and can be fitted with dorsal fairings for other systems. While there are facilities on the ground that can take similar measurements of aircraft flying through the air, doing it from another specially-equipped aircraft in the air allows the target to be measured from every angle, including from overhead aspects, and continuously.

Even when B-2 Spirits come out of depot maintenance, they usually spend time in the sky with RAT55 to validate that the work done fits established design goals and parameters. That is the most visible of the NT-43A’s work, but the aircraft is also involved with the most advanced and secretive stealth aircraft development programs in the Pentagon’s portfolio, many of which we don’t know about and likely never will.

[cooperhawk]

Well, OK then.

[Sir Henry]

Just picking up some good BBQ for the Holiday weekend.

Best reply.