ARIA makes final touchdown at Edwardsby
Leigh Anne Bierstine
Air Force Flight Test Center
Public Affairs
08/27/01 - EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.
(AFPN) -- The drooping nose of the EC-18B Advanced
Range Instrumentation Aircraft hung a little lower as
its impressive career drew to a close upon touchdown
here Aug. 24.
Both EC-18Bs assigned here are slated to go to the
Air Force's Joint STARS program by September. Joint
STARS, the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar
System, is an airborne battle management and command and
control platform that provides dedicated support of
ground commanders requirements.
ARIA's sagging and misshapen nose earned it the
nicknames "Droop Snoot" and "Snoopy Nose." The bird's
bulbous beak is a 10-foot radome housing a 7-foot
steerable dish antenna.
Originally named the Apollo Range Instrumentation
Aircraft, the ARIA program was developed by NASA and the
Department of Defense in the 1960s to track lunar
missions, along with unmanned orbital and ballistic
re-entry programs. The first of eight, then EC-135N,
aircraft became operational in 1968 as the program stood
up at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.
Seven years later, ARIA, redesignated as Advanced
Range Instrumentation Aircraft, transferred to the
4950th Test Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. In 1994
the ARIA program, which now included EC-18B aircraft and
more than 200 airmen, relocated here. Gradually,
taskings dwindled and planes were declared excess and
transferred to other programs including Joint STARS.
The costs associated with maintaining the aircraft
and its capability became a major factor in ending the
ARIA program.
"We had to make a hard decision," said Brig. Gen.
Perry Lamy, former 412th Test Wing commander here who is
now serving as the director of operations at Air Force
Materiel Command headquarters at Wright-Patterson. "We
must continually balance accomplishing the mission with
good stewardship of our resources. Continuing in the
situation we faced would have made us poor stewards of
taxpayer dollars."
The transfer of the last two operational aircraft to
Joint STARS is a bittersweet event for the Edwards-based
ARIA crew.
"In many ways, the final flight gives us closure on a
mission that has been fading over the last two years,"
said 1st Lt. Gus Jordt, from the 418th Flight Test
Squadron and who was the mission commander for the last
two flights. "However, it is sad to see such a great
mission, a great aircraft and great capability all go
away."
Operational customers from the 49th Test and
Evaluation Squadron at Barksdale AFB, La., accompanied
the ARIA team on several of its final missions, which
involved the testing of advanced cruise missiles. The
Barksdale crew will soon rely on the Big Crow, an
NKC-135B from of Kirtland AFB, N.M., to carry on its
mission of testing of both nuclear and conventional
advanced cruise missiles. The final ARIA team was an
integral part of ensuring its replacement is up to the
task.
"We can't fly our missiles without the airborne
telemetry platform provided by the ARIA," said Capt. Rob
Neher, airborne lead engineer from Barksdale. "With the
demise of the aircraft, the ARIA crew has worked with us
and with Kirtland to give us confidence that the
transfer of our testing will be successful."
The crew has overcome numerous challenges in
completing its final missions, said Capt. Aaron
Almendinger, chief of ARIA technical operations. "Over
the past two years it has become more difficult to
maintain and upgrade our equipment and we have continued
to lose experienced people," Almendinger said. "It has
been tough to keep up a good product, but the crew has
done it and made it look easy."
Without the support of the operators, ARIA would not
have enjoyed the success it has, he said.
"If you take away their expert knowledge and
experience, the capability is not here," Almendinger
said.
Fans of the sole remaining EC-135E ARIA, nicknamed
"Bird of Prey" can find it at the Air Force Museum at
Wright-Patterson. | 
