spartans_in_darkness

EO
1.4. (c)
Communist, unidentified and U.S. strike aircraft
over North Vietnam
As for American aircraft,
lronhorse was to provide their location
when over Laos, near the Chinese border or
Hainan Island, when an air engagement was
imminent, and for search and rescue operations.""
"---~----:-----_......
(SHS!) The analyst sitting in front of the CRT
was trained to recognize tactically important
North Vietnamese tracking information and forward
it to the TACC. Since all the tracking data
were displayed, the analyst had to decide what
was tactically important and to which air command
element he had to forward the information.
The system could display up to 120 tracks,
though, realistically, this number cluttered the
screen beyond recognition, so considerably fewer
were displayed. The analyst could select a track by
typing in its number or else select it directly from
the screen with a light pen. 68
(SHS!) The tracks he selected then went into
the TACC Backup Interceptor Control System
(BUIC), the computer which controlled the automated
distribution of air tactical information.
lronhorse was the latest addition to the overall
automation of the Air Force's tactical air control
system known as Combat Lightning. The information
was then fed into a communications
interface which relayed it to the Marine Tactical
Data System (MTDS), the Navy Tactical Data
System (NTDS) with Task Force 77, and the 7th
Air Force command centers. The operators at
these sites would see the displays in a sanitized
geographic plot. The local air commander combined
this information with what he had received
from other sources, such as the MTDS and
College Eye, through the Seek Dawn interface."
To further help in understanding the SIGINT
information, the USAFSS sent a Support
Coordination Advisory Team (SCAT) to the TACC
at Danang.
~ lronhorse-contiqured morse intercept position
in an H-1 van, Dananq, RVN, April 1968
(S//SI) Initially, Ironhorse testing and training
were conducted at NSAheadquarters. Sample
intercept tapes from the Hammock system were
sent to Fort Meade to test against the Ironhorse
equipment. Morse intercept operators arrived in
the summer for training on the system. By
September, people and equipment began to
arrive at Danang. Arriving there, the airmen
found a major problem. In July 1967, a communist
rocket attack on the air base had seriously
damaged the building designated for the
Ironhorse complex. So, personnel from the
6924th Security Squadron had to utilize H-1 vans
configured for lronhorse. Eventually, four vans
were modified to house twenty intercept positions.
Three more vans were customized to house
the computers and communications equipment.
They were airlifted to Danang by November
1967. 70 An engineering team made up of technicians
from the USAFSS and NSA arrived to complete
the connections and to start up operations.
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