Tankers to leave Grand Forks by December 2010

[unhappycamper]

RQ-4 Block 40 Global Hawks are expected to begin arriving at Grand Forks in mid-2013 to replace the KC-135 tankers.


Tankers to leave Grand Forks by December 2010
Staff report
Posted : Thursday Dec 17, 2009 17:15:43 EST

The tanker mission at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., will come to an end by December 2010, the Air Force announced Wednesday.

Grand Forks now is home to the 319th Refueling Wing, 1,700 airmen and one squadron of KC-135 Stratotankers.

Gradually replacing the tankers will be a fleet of remote-controlled RQ-4 Block 40 Global Hawks, expected to begin arriving in mid-2013. The Block 40 version of the Global Hawk flies with a radar able to track ground targets.

During the 2½-year gap between tankers and RQ-4s, Grand Forks will stay open with a mission focused on preparing the base for the Global Hawks. Part of the transition includes the arrival in fall 2011 of a 180-man team called a “battlefield airborne communications node mission control element” to work with RQ-4s flying as communications relays.


Article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/12/airforce_grand_forks_121709w/