Inside The Air Force’s Elite Ghost Tanker Unit

In this episode of TWZ: Special Access, Jamie Hunter visits the world-famous Edwards Air Force Base, the heart of the USAF’s flight test operations, in California’s Mojave Desert, to fly a mission in a KC-135 that’s become known as the “Ghost Tanker.” 

This is the U.S. Air Force’s only dedicated test tanker that’s instrumented to certify new aircraft types to tank from a flying-boom-equipped, in-flight refueling aircraft. It was recently seen conducting aerial refueling trials with the new B-21 Raider bomber.

Operated by the Air Force Reserve Command’s 370th Flight Test Squadron, this KC-135 is the Air Force Test Center’s flagship. It forms the centerpiece of an elite tanker test team at Edwards that performs a critical role in supporting a wide range of flight-testing.