KC-135 Prototype Project

Staff Sgt. Brian Harris, 191st Maintenance Squadron, prepares to cut an opening in the top of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., Jan. 30, 2013.Tthe opening will accommodate an additional antennae on the aircraft, which will allow it to serve as a platform for testing a prototype of a new aircraft defense system. The aircraft is assigned to the 127th Wing, Michigan Air National Guard. (Air National Guard photo by Brittani Baisden)

KC-135 Prototype Project

Technical Sgt. John Kerschenheiter, an avionics technician with the 191 Maintenance Squadron connects wiring for a new antennae to the flight controls of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., Jan. 30, 2013. The KC-135, assigned to the 127th Air Refueling Group of the Michigan Air National Guard, was being outfitted with the additional antennae to allow it to serve as a platform for testing a prototype of a new aircraft defense system. (Air National Guard photo by Brittani Baisden)

KC-135 Prototype Project

Senior Airman Jake Tufts, 191st Maintenance Squadron, performs an air test during work on a KC-135 Stratotanker at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., Jan. 16, 2013. The test reports on the presence of jet fuel vapor in the air, a critical safety consideration during indoor maintenance work. The KC-135, assigned to the 127th Air Refueling Group of the Michigan Air National Guard, was being prepared to serve as a platform for testing a prototype of a new aircraft defense system. (Air National Guard photo by John S. Swanson)

KC-135 Painting

Staff Sgt. Brian Harris, 191st Maintenance Squadron, removes a yellow mask from the newly-painted 127th Wing logo on the fuselage of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., Jan. 17, 2013. Over the past year, the fleet of KC-135s at Selfridge have been receiving a checkerboard and stripe and logo paint scheme as mission requirements and other maintenance work allows. The checkerboard design has been used by the Michigan Air National Guard on aircraft at Selfridge since at least the early 1970s when the “Michigan Six-Pack” was assigned F-106 Delta Dart fighter-interceptors. The stripe on the fuselage harkens back to the former Strategic Air Command, a former Air Force major command that operated bomber and air refueling aircraft in the 1940s-1990s. (Air National Guard photo by John S. Swanson)

KC-135 Painting

Staff Sgt. Brian Harris, 191st Maintenance Squadron, applies tape to mask off a checkerboard pattern being painted on the skin of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., Jan. 16, 2013. Over the past year, the fleet of KC-135s at Selfridge have been receiving the paint scheme as mission requirements and other maintenance work allows. The checkerboard design has been used by the Michigan Air National Guard on aircraft at Selfridge since at least the early 1970s when the “Michigan Six-Pack” was assigned F-106 Delta Dart fighter-interceptors. The stripe on the fuselage harkens back to the former Strategic Air Command, a former Air Force major command that operated bomber and air refueling aircraft in the 1940s-1990s. (Air National Guard photo by John S. Swanson)

Avionics Testing

Avionics specialists from the 127th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron prepare an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft for a radar threat detection test on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013 at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. The test ensures that the aircraft threat warning system operates properly to ensure pilot safety during flight. (Air National Guard photo by TSgt Robert Hanet)