United Kingdom receives its first Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint Intelligence plane.

According to Aviation Week, the UK has taken delivery of its first RC-135W Rivet Joint plane. The plane delivered today at its operational base, RAF Waddington, is the first of the three planes intended to replace Nimrod R1 intelligence gathering airplane retired in 2011.

The Airseeker, the RAF's name for the U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint system and also the name of the acquisition program, has been converted from a Boeing KC-135 by L-3 Communications at its Greenville, Texas facility.

The UK has allocated £633 million (just over $1 billion) to acquire three aircraft at two-year intervals, plus their associated ground stations.

In preparation for the Rivet Joint’s arrival, 51 Sqn crews flew missions with the USAF’s 55th Reconnaissance Wing to gain experience on the type. U.K. crews have already achieved in excess of 32,000 flying hours and 1800 sorties with the 55th Wing.

IOC (initial operating capability) of this first aircraft is due in October 2014 which at the time will be the only plane of the type in the RAF inventory. The last aircraft being delivered mid-2017, six months before the initial delivery date.

The plane was to be delivered mid-october but according to Aviation international news, the delivery was postponed by the UK’s Military Airworthiness Authority (MAA). Indeed the MAA did not have the proper time to review the safety case.