Contrails from the dome
Contrails stream from the radar dome of an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) as it closes in on the refueling boom of a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., during an evening air refueling training exercise, March 30, 2015. The KC-135 was operated by an aircrew made up of Air Force Reservists assigned to the 18th Air Refueling Squadron, 931st Air Refueling Group, at McConnell. The E-3 is equipped with a 30-foot rotating radar dome that contains a radar subsystem that permits surveillance from the Earth's surface up into the stratosphere, over land or water. The radar has a range of more than 250 miles (375.5 kilometers). The radar combined with an identification friend or foe, or IFF, subsystem can look down to detect, identify and track enemy and friendly low-flying aircraft by eliminating ground clutter returns that confuse other radar systems. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Ray Lewis)