Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS
Figure 59. EB-66. One counter to North Vietnamese radar was standoff
electronic jamming. The EB-66 was the chief USAF platform for such
activity. (Reprinted from USAF.)
capabilities. The EB-66 served well throughout the war, but its
operations were limited by its small numbers, old airframe,
inadequate engines, fuel leaks, and restricted operator training.
The Communists countered the jamming by moving their
SAMs forward, forcing the EB-66 in turn to move away from
North Vietnam to orbits over both Laos and the Gulf of Tonkin,
farther from their radars and thus making them less effective.
They also directly attacked the jammers with both MiGs and
missiles, downing six EB-66s over the course of the war. 21 In late
1966, the Marines introduced the EA-6A into the jamming role.
A third American measure against the SAMs was codenamed
Wild Weasel. The Air Force installed radar homing and
warning—electronics equipment that could detect SAM radar
and indicate its location—into F-100Fs, the two-seat trainer
version of its fighter-bomber. Wild Weasel I went into action in
November 1965, flying with and guiding conventionally armed
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