The Air Force has signed off on a plan to put AI in the left seat of its KC-135 tanker fleet. Autonomous flight developer Merlin announced it will begin flying the converted Boeing 707s, among the oldest airframes in the fleet with Merlin Pilot, an AI-driven robotic flight system, in 2025. “We’re building the Merlin Pilot to not just meet safety standards, but redefine them. Integrating the Merlin Pilot onto one of most important aircraft in the USAF’s fleet is crucial to advancing military aviation into a new era of pilot efficiency and national security, as well as progressing autonomy at scale,” said Matt George, CEO and founder of Merlin.
Converted B707? Are they testing on KC-135s or B707s? Both of those were products derived from the same prototype, but a KC-135 is not a B707.
Further, the USAF will apparently go to great lengths to avoid fixing the recruiting and retention problems it has - there is no advantage to operating these with fewer crew.
Way back in a time almost forgotten, I used to work on KC-135As and B-52Hs. In the entry hatch tunnel there was a data tag. Among other infomation it had the word “Boeing” and there was a numeric code for the model. That code had “70?”. I cannot recall for sure what digit was in the space where I have the “?”. I think there was a “7” in that location and there was other information on the data tag providing what derivative of the 707 that the 135 was. I have no idea how many times I climbed up onto the flight deck in the 3 years I worked on 135s. I do recall occasionally glancing at the data tag as I started my climb and thinking, “Eh, a 707 derivative”.
Maybe some on this forum are not aware that the KC-46 is a derivative of the 767 airframe.
A friend of mine, recent USAF UPT graduate, recently finished KC-135 training. His type certificate shows rated in B707 and B720. Close enough for govt. work, I guess.
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave the aircraft the internal designation of Model 717
Depends on flight controls and on avionics (which are partially different between 707 and KC-135 because the latter has more military-specific avionics).
