Sioux City’s 185th Air Refueling Wing has gotten back the first tanker aircraft that has been upgraded with the latest digital cockpit instruments. Lieutenant Colonel Shawn Streck, 185th Maintenance Commander, says the instrument panel replacement program known as the “block 45” replaces most of the remaining analog gauges in the cockpit of the aging K-C-135 with new instrumentation and L-C-D displays
Streck says during the next 12 months the 185th expects to have five of its K-C-135’s have the new cockpit instruments installed. That should keep the 1950’s era aircraft viable for years to come.
The mid-air refueler returned to Sioux City after 60 days at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma where the new systems were installed.
