WC-135 Constant Phoenix

Infobox Aircraft
name = WC-135 Constant Phoenix
type = Observation Support/Support Open Skies Treaty
manufacturer = Boeing Military Airplanes Division

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caption = A WC-135 Constant Phoenix approaching a tanker
designer =
first flight =
introduced = June 1993
retired =
status =
primary user = United States Air Force
more users =
produced =
number built = 3
unit cost =
developed from = C-135 Stratolifter
variants with their own articles = OC-135B Open Skies

The WC-135 Constant Phoenix is a special purpose aircraft derived from the Boeing C-135 and used by the United States Air Force. Its mission is to collect samples from the atmosphere for the purpose of detecting and identifying nuclear explosions.

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. On operational sorties, the crew is minimized to just pilots, navigator, and special equipment operators, in order to reduce occupational radiation exposure to qualified mission essential personnel.

The Constant Phoenix WC-135 aircraft serves as an aerial collection platform for the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), supporting the detection and identification of debris from nuclear weapons detonations. Two Constant Phoenix aircraft, WC-135W (serial number 61-2667) and WC-135C (serial number 62-3582) are currently assigned to the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron, 55th Wing at Offutt AFB. This mission was previously conducted by WC-135W 61-2665, which was retired in September 1996. Previously, as many as ten WC-135B weather reconnaissance airplanes flew in support of weather analysis, nuclear detection, and other scientific research.

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.

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.

Missions

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.

Vela Incident

WC-135B aircraft flew 25 sorties at great expense in 1979 to try to ascertain if a double flash in the south Atlantic that was detected by a Vela satellite was a nuclear weapons test [cite web|publisher=United States Airforce via National Security Archive|date=2006-05-04|accessdate=2008-08-25|title=History of the Air Force Technical Applications Centre, Patrick Airforce Base, Florida: Volume 1|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB190/15.pdf] , however the result was inconclusive.

Chernobyl

Constant Phoenix was used in 1986 to measure radiation from the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. The WC-135W played a major role in tracking radioactive debris.

Pakistan & India

The Constant Phoenix aircraft was used to gather information on the nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan and India in 1998.

North Korea

In October 2002, the US WC-135W plane flew to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. The plane was equipped with radioactivity detectors. The plane was sent to check for possible nuclear weapons tests by North Korea. As the Korean nuclear crisis escalated, US spy planes stepped up activities around the strategic Japanese island of Okinawa. The WC-135W plane, which helps collect and identify debris from nuclear weapons detonations, returned to Okinawa's Kadena airbase on 4 February 2003.

On Friday 6 October 2006 Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that a US military aircraft, equipped to detect radiation from a nuclear test, took off from southern Japan. This was believed to be part of US efforts to prepare to monitor a North Korean nuclear test.

On Monday 9 October 2006 North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports that the country has performed a successful underground nuclear test.

On October 13, 2006 CNN reported: "The U.S. Air Force flew a WC-135 Constant Phoenix atmospheric collection aircraft on Tuesday to collect air samples from the region. A preliminary analysis of air samples from North Korea shows "radioactive debris consistent with a North Korea nuclear test," according to a statement from the office of the top U.S. intelligence official. The statement, from the office of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, was sent to Capitol Hill but not released publicly. CNN obtained it from a congressional source. The national intelligence office statement said the air samples were collected Wednesday, and analysis found debris that would be consistent with a nuclear test "in the vicinity of Punggye" on Monday. The South Korean Defense Ministry told CNN that the United States has informed it that radioactivity has been detected." The aircraft was based at Offutt AFB, and was sent to Kadena AB on Okinawa to operate during the sampling missions. [Timesonline.co.uk, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2398307,00.html Cold War aircraft searches the sky for proof of test] ]

pecifications

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet
crew= varies with mission
length main=139 ft 11 in
length alt=42.6 m
span main= 130 ft 10 in
span alt=39.9 m
height main=42 ft
height alt=12.8 m
area main=2,433 ft²
area alt=226 m²
max takeoff weight main=300,500 lb
max takeoff weight alt=136,300 kg
engine (jet)= Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-5
type of jet= turbofan with thrust reversers
number of jets=4
thrust main=16,050 lbf
thrust alt=71.4 kN
max speed main= 350 knots
max speed alt= 648 km/h
range main= 4,000 miles
range alt= 7,400 km
ceiling main=40,000 ft
ceiling alt=12,200 m
loading main= 123.5 lb/ft²
loading alt= 603 kg/m²
thrust/weight= 0.21
armament=
* None

ee also

*Bhangmeteraircontent
related=
* C-135 Stratolifter
* KC-135 Stratotanker
* OC-135B Open Skies
* Boeing RC-135
similar aircraft=
* WC-130
sequence=

lists=
* List of active military aircraft of the United States
see also=

References

External links

* [http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=192 USAF: WC-135 Constant Phoenix - Factsheet]
* [http://www.airliners.net/open.file/777694/L/ Airliners.net Boeing WC-135W (717-158)]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/constant_phoenix.htm GlobalSecurity.org WC-135 page]
* [http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/constant_phoenix.htm Fas.org WC-135 page]
* [http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/14/nkorea.test.sample/index.html CNN coverage of Constant Phoenix and North Korean Nuclear Test]