One of the most important ways in which the US Air Force has been upgrading its fleet of KC-135Rs and KC-135Ts, as well as its other models, is to make their flight decks compatible with the modern, highly digital, air traffic management environment. By default, this has meant the US Air Force doing away with the navigator's and flight engineer's positions on every C-135 flight deck, in order to make the aircraft fully navigable and controllable by just a two-pilot crew. It has also meant the Air Force replacing all of the fleet's 1950s-vintage analogue instruments and navigational systems with digital avionics and displays, which make it easier for the two pilots to absorb all the aircraft systems, air traffic management and navigational information required to fly the aircraft efficiently and safely while satisfying today's complex airspace and traffic requirements. The cockpit upgrade process, which began in 1997 and includes three distinct phases, will be finished within a few years. By the time the process is completed, every major KC-135R and KC-135T flight deck component, except the pilot's seats and a few other minor parts, will have been replaced by a new digital electronic component, says Col Martin O'Grady, KC-135R system programme manager for the US Air Force. By then, all of the 400-plus C-135s remaining in US service should be able to continue performing their missions efficiently and reliably in the highly digital 21st century operating environment until either the US Department of Defense mandates their replacement or until they reach the limit of their currently specified 39,000 flight-hour lives. At current annual rates of operation, most US Air Force KC-135s are expected to reach that 39,000-flight-hour figure between 2040 and 2050.
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