Tankers and radar planes
Some of the most interesting military aircraft look like airliners. Tankers refuel other planes in flight, and radar and command planes watch the sky or keep communications open from far above.
Many are built from airliners such as the 707, 737, 767, 747 and A330, painted gray, which is why they're easy to miss.
How to tell them apart
A giant rotating dish on top
An E-3 Sentry (AWACS). A smaller twin-propeller plane with a dish: the Navy's E-2 Hawkeye.
A flat 'top hat' radar bar on top of a 737
An E-7 Wedgetail.
A gray airliner flying a long oval for an hour or more
Probably a tanker on an air-refueling track, sometimes with fighters close behind.
A gray 747 with a hump on its back
The E-4B, nicknamed the 'Doomsday plane'.
Every one Bogey can identify
Boeing KC-46 PegasusThe Pegasus
Boeing KC-135R StratotankerStratotanker
Boeing E-3 Sentry (AWACS)The AWACS
Boeing E-7 WedgetailWedgetail
Boeing E-4B NightwatchNightwatch
McDonnell Douglas KC-10 ExtenderThe Gas Station
Northrop Grumman E-2 HawkeyeThe Hummer
Airbus A330 MRTTThe Flying Fuel Depot
Boeing KC-135 StratotankerThe Stratotanker
Northrop Grumman E-8 JSTARSJSTARS
Boeing E-6 MercuryThe Mercury
Boeing E-6B MercuryTACAMO
Ilyushin Il-80The Maxdome
Ilyushin Il-82The RelayRead next
More types
- Fighter jets33 aircraft
- Military helicopters9 aircraft
- Military cargo planes22 aircraft
- Bombers12 aircraft
- Spy & patrol planes13 aircraft
- Military trainers20 aircraft
- Warbirds25 aircraft
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