Boeing OC-135B Open Skies

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OC-135 Open Skies
Role	Observation Support/Support Open Skies Treaty Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Boeing Military Airplanes Division
Introduction	June 1993
Status	In service
Primary user	United States Air Force (intended)
Number built	3
Developed from	C-135 Stratolifter

The OC-135B Open Skies is a United States Air Force observation aircraft that supports the Treaty on Open Skies.^[1] The aircraft, a modified WC-135B, flies unarmed observation flights over participating parties of the treaty. Three OC-135B aircraft were modified by the Aeronautical Systems Center's 4950th Test Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio but only two were ever used. The first operationally-capable OC-135B was assigned to the 24th Reconnaissance Squadron at Offutt AFB in October 1993. It is now fitted with a basic set of navigational and sensor equipment, and was placed in inviolate storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona in 1997. Two fully operational OC-135B aircraft were delivered in 1996 with the full complement of treaty-allowed sensors, which includes an infrared line scanner, synthetic aperture radar and video scanning sensors.

In May 2020, the Trump administration said it would exit the treaty and gave the required six-month notice.^[2] In November, it announced plans to liquidate the two 60-year-old jets, offering them to other countries.^[3][4]