Latest news with #AirForceMaterielCommand
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
World's Most Secretive 737 'RAT55' Just Made A Rare Public Appearance
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. — Jason (@JasonZicker) May 22, 2025 RATT55 departing KAMA — Jason (@JasonZicker) May 22, 2025 'As far as I know, it was just for gas,' said Zicker, who was kind enough to let us use his video. 'RAT55 did have a flight plan to come here a couple of months ago, but never showed up.' The aircraft flew from the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) to Northwest Arkansas National Airport. It stopped at Amarillo on the way back, likely for fuel. It isn't clear why it went to Arkansas at this time. We asked Air Force Materiel Command if they could provide any information as to RAT55's puzzling trip and they replied: 'Regarding your query, I do not have any details to provide.' It is interesting to note that King Aerospace has a presence at Northwest Arkansas National Airport. In 2022, RAT55 appeared at a different King Aerospace facility at Admore Municipal Airport in Oklahoma during another rare outing. Whether or not its latest trip is again tied to a visit to this company, which specializes in heavy maintenance and deep modification work, including for the U.S. military, is unknown at this time. TWZ has reached out to King Aerospace for more information. #A10635 as #RATT55/#STORMY29Up from Groom Lake KXTA to Northwestern Arkansas National Airport KXNA. Audio of STORMY29/RATT55 getting cleared to land at KXNA. — Norb (@norb420) May 20, 2025 The name RAT55 is actually used for the jet's callsign, although as RATT55, with an extra t. On this particular outing, the jet has been using the callsign Stormy 29. Looks like their callsign today was STRMY29 and not RATT55 — Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) May 21, 2025 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. Got a glimpse of #rat55 while in Death Valley this week with a #B2 bomber — Marc Bierdzinski (@mbplan) October 29, 2020 Considering all of the combat aviation developments now underway in a new era of so-called 'great power competition,' RAT55 is presumably busier than ever, and will be flooded with work soon as many programs mature into a flying state. From the B-21, to a plethora of new advanced drones, to the F-47 next-generation fighter, the stealth business is booming. At the same time, RAT55 is a very old aircraft, and dwindling support for first-generation 737s is surely becoming an issue. With this in mind, it is somewhat puzzling why it isn't being replaced or at least augmented. Then again, it could be, and we won't know until that new aircraft materializes somewhere. That's the abbreviated version of what we know about RAT55, you can read more about the aircraft and see the best images ever taken of it in this past feature of ours. While we don't know why RAT55 came out of the shadows for this jaunt across the U.S., it sure was a great opportunity for aviation enthusiasts to spot a truly one-of-a-kind plane, and a very clandestine one at that. Contact the author: Tyler@
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
Former Wright-Patt commander is now confined on base
Apr. 16—Col. Christopher Meeker has started the confinement portion of his sentence on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the base he once led as installation commander. "He is at the confinement facility on base," Derek Kaufman, spokesman for the Air Force Materiel Command, said Wednesday. In a one-day court-martial at the base Tuesday, Meeker, the former commander of the 88th Air Base Wing, pled guilty to willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer and fraternization. During the trial, Meeker acknowledged having a personal and sexual relationship with a non-commissioned officer at Wright-Patterson, a staff sergeant, after Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at the base, ordered him not to have contact with the NCO. As part of a plea agreement revealed during the trial, prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss a specification of extramarital sexual conduct against Meeker. He was sentenced to 21 days confinement, a reprimand, and forfeiture of $14,000, or $7,000 of pay a month for two months. In military courts-martial, the sentencing phase immediately follows the findings phase, which determines guilt or innocence, Air Force Materiel Command said in a statement. "Absent restrictions imposed by terms of the plea agreement, the maximum punishment was dismissal, reprimand, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for seven years," AFMC said. Meeker told a judge that he "willfully disobeyed" the no-contact order, that his behavior demonstrated a lack of personal and professional discipline, and he acted "selfishly, for my own personal happiness." Prosecutors argued that Meeker's contact with the staff sergeant took place well after Shipton had extended the original no-contact order in March last year. In an interview with Air Force investigators, the NCO painted a portrait of nearly daily contact with Meeker, electronic conversations wiped away by the Signal app and meetings for sex "four to five times a week," at a time when the no-contact order was in place. The staff sergeant has since left the Air Force Force. "Col. Meeker has been full of apologies and devoid of resolution," a prosecutor, Capt. Connor McAfee, said in a closing argument during the trial at the headquarters of the 88th Air Base Wing.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
NEW DETAILS: Former Wright-Patt commander is now confined on base
Apr. 16—Col. Christopher Meeker has started the confinement portion of his sentence on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the base he once led as installation commander. "He is at the confinement facility on base," Derek Kaufman, spokesman for the Air Force Materiel Command, said Wednesday. In a one-day court-martial at the base Tuesday, Meeker, the former commander of the 88th Air Base Wing, pled guilty to willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer and fraternization. During the trial, Meeker acknowledged having a personal and sexual relationship with a non-commissioned officer at Wright-Patterson, a staff sergeant, after Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at the base, ordered him not to have contact with the NCO. As part of a plea agreement revealed during the trial, prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss a specification of extramarital sexual conduct against Meeker. He was sentenced to to 21 days confinement, a reprimand, and forfeiture of $14,000, or $7,000 of pay a month for two months. In military courts-martial, the sentencing phase immediately follows the findings phase, which determines guilt or innocence, Air Force Materiel Command said in a statement. "Absent restrictions imposed by terms of the plea agreement, the maximum punishment was dismissal, reprimand, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for seven years," AFMC said. Meeker told a judge that he "willfully disobeyed" the in-person and electronic no-contact order, that his behavior demonstrated a lack of personal and professional discipline, and he acted "selfishly, for my own personal happiness." Prosecutors argued that Meeker's contact with the staff sergeant took place well after Shipton had extended an original no-contact order in March last year. In an interview with Air Force investigators, the NCO painted a portrait of nearly daily contact with Meeker, electronic conversations wiped away by the Signal app and meetings for sex "four to five times a week," at a time when the no-contact order was in place. The staff sergeant has since left the Air Force Force. "Col. Meeker has been full of apologies and devoid of resolution," a prosecutor, Capt. Connor McAfee, said in a closing argument during the trial at the headquarters of the 88th Air Base Wing.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court martial of former Wright-Patt commander shows difference from civilian trial
Apr. 14—A court martial of Col. Christopher Meeker, former commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is scheduled to begin Tuesday at the base. The trial is open to anyone who has access to the base, said Derek Kaufman, spokesman for the Air Force Materiel Command. The referred charges include one charge and one specification under Article 90, "willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer," and one charge and two specifications under Article 134, "extramarital sexual conduct and fraternization." There are some distinct differences between a civilian trial and a court martial of a uniformed member of the military. "Willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer," for example, is a distinctively military charge. "This offense and others, including failure to obey a lawful order or regulation, desertion, malingering, and mutiny ... are distinctly military offenses designed to maintain good order and discipline in the armed forces by making specific conduct criminally punishable," then-Lt. Col. Andrew Norton, an Air Force judge advocate, wrote in 2019. Another big difference between courts-martial and civilian trials: There are no mistrials. "That is because the military is one of the few jurisdictions that allows for split verdicts in criminal trials," Norton wrote. Another difference, according to Norton: "Military members may plead guilty only if they truly believe themselves to be guilty." The military does not allow nolo contendere or "no contest" pleas. Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force and the president of the group Protect Our Defenders, said military courts-martial have rigorous and well developed rules of evidence. Defendants are entitled to free defense representation, no matter what their rank, he said. "You can appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court at no cost," he said. There is no hung jury in the military. To secure a conviction, prosecutors need to have three-quarters of the members of the jury agree to a guilty verdict. And military juries tend to be highly educated and heedful of instructions while judges tend to judge only criminal cases, Christensen said. "If I were innocent, I would want to be tried to court martial," he said. Meeker assumed command of the the 88th Air Base Wing in July 2022. He was fired in late December 2023 by Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, also headquartered at Wright-Patterson. Since it's possible Shipton will be a material witness in the case, she transferred the case to another convening authority, Maj. Gen. Charles D. Bolton, 18th Air Force commander at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Meeker waived an Article 32 preliminary hearing and charges were referred to a general court-martial by Bolton. Parties agreed afterwards to change the date and venue of the trial. Two years ago this month, an Air Force judge sentenced former Maj. Gen. William Cooley to a reprimand and ordered that he forfeit $10,910 of monthly pay for five months. Cooley, then 56, was a two-star general and a former commander of Air Force Research Laboratory. He was found guilty in a Wright-Patterson court martial of one specification of abusive sexual contact against his brother's wife. Prosecutors said he forcibly kissed his sister-in-law after a family barbecue in New Mexico. Cooley was the first Air Force general officer to be court-martialed and convicted. In May 2023, Air Force Materiel Command said Cooley would retire as a colonel in June that year, a demotion of two ranks.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court martial of former Wright-Patt commander shows difference from civilian trial
Apr. 14—A court martial of Col. Christopher Meeker, former commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is scheduled to begin Tuesday at the base. The trial is open to anyone who has access to the base, said Derek Kaufman, spokesman for the Air Force Materiel Command. The referred charges include one charge and one specification under Article 90, "willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer," and one charge and two specifications under Article 134, "extramarital sexual conduct and fraternization." There are some distinct differences between a civilian trial and a court martial of a uniformed member of the military. "Willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer," for example, is a distinctively military charge. "This offense and others, including failure to obey a lawful order or regulation, desertion, malingering, and mutiny ... are distinctly military offenses designed to maintain good order and discipline in the armed forces by making specific conduct criminally punishable," then-Lt. Col. Andrew Norton, an Air Force judge advocate, wrote in 2019. Another big difference between courts-martial and civilian trials: There are no mistrials. "That is because the military is one of the few jurisdictions that allows for split verdicts in criminal trials," Norton wrote. Another difference, according to Norton: "Military members may plead guilty only if they truly believe themselves to be guilty." The military does not allow nolo contendere or "no contest" pleas. Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force and the president of the group Protect Our Defenders, said military courts-martial have rigorous and well developed rules of evidence. Defendants are entitled to free defense representation, no matter what their rank, he said. "You can appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court at no cost," he said. There is no hung jury in the military. To secure a conviction, prosecutors need to have three-quarters of the members of the jury agree to a guilty verdict. And military juries tend to be highly educated and heedful of instructions while judges tend to judge only criminal cases, Christensen said. "If I were innocent, I would want to be tried to court martial," he said. Meeker assumed command of the the 88th Air Base Wing in July 2022. He was fired in late December 2023 by Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, also headquartered at Wright-Patterson. Since it's possible Shipton will be a material witness in the case, she transferred the case to another convening authority, Maj. Gen. Charles D. Bolton, 18th Air Force commander at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Meeker waived an Article 32 preliminary hearing and charges were referred to a general court-martial by Bolton. Parties agreed afterwards to change the date and venue of the trial. Two years ago this month, an Air Force judge sentenced former Maj. Gen. William Cooley to a reprimand and ordered that he forfeit $10,910 of monthly pay for five months. Cooley, then 56, was a two-star general and a former commander of Air Force Research Laboratory. He was found guilty in a Wright-Patterson court martial of one specification of abusive sexual contact against his brother's wife. Prosecutors said he forcibly kissed his sister-in-law after a family barbecue in New Mexico. Cooley was the first Air Force general officer to be court-martialed and convicted. In May 2023, Air Force Materiel Command said Cooley would retire as a colonel in June that year, a demotion of two ranks.
