From the Archives: Flying Rivet Joint - Thirty Years Ago In Aviation Week

With the support of the Air Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Air Force headquarters air staff, Aviation Week & Space Technology Senior Military Editor David A. Fulghum became the first journalist to fly on a Rivet Joint aircraft during the 1996 Green Flag exercises at Nellis AFB, Nevada, resulting in his seven-part flight report in the magazine’s June 24, 1996, issue. 

During the Cold War, Desert Storm, and the 1990s era of proliferating threats, the U.S. relied on the small Rivet Joint fleet of electronic data-gathering aircraft to closely monitor foreign military activity, but until Fulghum’s flight, military and intelligence officials carefully shielded the aircraft from public knowledge. (USAF photo).

June 24 1996 | Aviation Week

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