U.S. lawmakers drop funding for OC-135’s replacement

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee has rejected the Trump administration’s request to buy two aircraft to replace the problematic OC-135.

By Dmitry Terekhov from Odintsovo, Russian Federation (OC-135B) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry said he is withholding the funding to buy new aircraft and improve sensors until Russia “again complies with the (Open Skies) Treaty.”

Assembled in 1961, the two OC-135s operated by the 55th Wing have been suffering from mechanical failures in recent years.