Rare Air Force Stealth Measurement 737 Makes Public Appearances
The NT-43A stealth measurement platform, normally kept under wraps in Nevada, made a daylight flight to Arkansas last week.
One of the Air Force’s least photographed airframes was front and center and seemingly posing for pictures and videos last week as it left its normal haunts in the Nevada Test and Training Range for a broad-daylight trip to a civilian airport in Bentonville, Arkansas. The NT-43A radar cross section measurement aircraft even stopped for fuel on the return trip at the airport in Amarillo after visiting Bentonville. The aircraft itself offers some insight into just how long the Air Force may have been measuring stealth. It’s based on a first-generation Boeing 737-200, a turbojet-powered baby Boeing that first flew in the 1960s. Only a handful of those aircraft are still in service, most in the far North where the certified gravel kit available only on that model of 737 comes in handy for the unimproved runways at some airports and mines in the Canadian and Alaska Arctic.
As is evident from the close-ups from last week, there is some interesting stuff going on under the various fairings and extensions, but it could be that just about everything that can be discerned from the distinctly utilitarian modifications has already been figured out. For what it’s worth, The War Zone has deduced that the ancient 737 needed some kind of maintenance that couldn’t be done at its usual digs at Tonopah and Groom Lake ranges. The only other time the plane has ventured out of that zealously guarded airspace was to Admore Municipal Airport in Oklahoma in 2022. Both Bentonville and Admore are home to maintenance and modification facilities operated by King Aerospace, which does work for the Air Force and seems to specialize in old 737s.
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