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

AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS
and Navy crews in 1966 to 18 percent in the first quarter of
1967. In the fall of 1967, SA-2 crews began using optical aiming,
which rendered American ECM efforts useless; however,
optical aiming required favorable visual conditions, which also
reduced SAM effectiveness. In March 1968, the Americans introduced
the more capable AGM-78 Standard ARM. Although
it was constrained by reliability and size problems, the AGM-78
gave American Airmen another and better weapon against the
SAM. Compared to the earlier Shrike radar homing missile, it
had a heavier warhead, greater range, and a memory feature
that allowed it to home in on the last signal it received from its
radar target, even if that radar was turned off. 23
In the summer of 1966, Wild Weasel III appeared; it was a
modification of the two-seat F-105 trainer, redesignated F-105G.
Iron Hand operations were now easier, as compatible aircraft
were flying together. In late 1966, US Airmen began using
cluster bomb units (CBU) antipersonnel munitions against
North Vietnamese positions. However, in the period following
the 1968 bombing halt, 1969 until summer 1972, free-fall
munitions were removed from Iron Hand aircraft, degrading
their effectiveness. 24
Before leaving this discussion of Iron Hand, one point requires
amplification. Wild Weasel crews were the first over enemy
territory and the last to leave (fig. 61). They actively sought out
danger and found it. Losses were substantial. Noting that two
Air Force and one Navy pilot who flew these missions earned
the Medal of Honor best sums this up. 25
The United States developed external pods mounted under
the aircraft to jam Communist electronics. In July 1965, the
US Air Force tested the devices on the reconnaissance versions
of the F-101 and F-4 without success. Later that year, the
Navy tested an internally mounted ECM package that did not
work much better. Both services were more successful when
the Navy in mid-1966 and the US Air Force in September or
October tested ECM pods carried beneath the fighters. A formation
of fighters using the pods—the Navy’s ALQ-51 and the
Air Force QRC-160 (redesignated ALQ-71)—seriously inhibited
radar-directed defenses. The various jamming devices forced
SAM operators to adopt a new procedure—track-on jamming.
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