1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
Vaught had been frustrated with the lack of dependable
communications between the JTF and the
rescue force and had tasked his communications
experts to develop a way to improve overall secure
communications. Satellite communications (SAT-
COM) proved to be a reliable means of long-range
secure-voice communications. There was no provision,
however, to mount the SATCOM antenna on
the C-130. Oliver was given the task to develop a
way to quickly mount an antenna. The mounting
had to be portable, since there were not enough
SATCOM sets to put on every aircraft. The antenna
to be mounted was a Dorn Margollin dishtype
unit that was about 18 inches in diameter
and mounted on a center pedestal. The develop -
mental team selected the forward escape hatch on
the top of the C-130 as the best location for the
antenna. Oliver had a unit flown to Ontario from
the manufacturer, and he used his top-priority
status to acquire a forward overhead escape hatch
from the assembly line at Lockheed-Martin,
Marietta, Georgia. After two quick days of design
and assembly, the antenna was flight-tested on an
MC-130E that was at LAS Ontario for periodic
maintenance. Two days later the antenna was
shipped to Kyle and the JTF. Almost immediately
another request came to Oliver for a similar
mounting for a C-141, and within another four-day
period, he had the C-141 antenna completed. 57
The next problem area for Oliver was the Combat
Talon FLIR system. The FLIR was nearly 10
years old by 1980 and had been adapted from the
US Navy P-3 program for use during the Son Tay
rescue mission. The original specification required
that the FLIR be covert and not visible
from the exterior of the aircraft. This requirement
placed the set behind the nose landing gear,
with the FLIR door covered by the aft nose landing
gear door when the aircraft was on the
ground. The installation required a pressure box
to isolate the FLIR from the pressurized fuselage,
a worm gear extension and retraction system, and
a relatively sophisticated door to close up the
whole system when not in use. The primary function
of the FLIR was to provide an aid to naviga -
tion during terrain following. Before lowering the
aircraft landing gear, the FLIR had to be retracted
and was thus unusable to the crew for
landing. Over the years, as funding for SOF decreased
after the end of the Vietnam War, available
FLIR assets were transferred to the 1st SOS
and were employed for the Korean sea surveillance
mission. None of the 7th or 8th SOS aircraft
had the FLIR installed, and their crews were not
proficient in FLIR operations.
As the airland option for both Night One and
Night Two developed, the need for a “gear-down,
FLIR down” capability emerged. Oliver was
tasked to find a solution. He removed an aft nose
landing-gear door from a C-130 at LAS Ontario
and had a semicircular opening cut in the door to
allow the FLIR turret to be extended through it
with the nose gear down. LAS engineers also designed
a cover for the opening that could be installed
when the capability was not required.
There were also wiring changes needed to allow
the FLIR to be down with the gear extended.
With the modified door in the back of a Combat
Talon, Oliver deployed to Hurlburt Field to test it
on an 8th SOS aircraft. 58
Oliver arranged for an acoustical engineer to
meet him at Hurlburt Field and to install sensors
on the test bird to determine noise and vibration
levels inside the aircraft. With the nose gear door
installed, Meller’s crew flew a test mission out of
Hurlburt Field to determine if Oliver’s brainchild
provided a workable solution. With the cutout just
below the flight deck, the noise and vibration
proved totally unacceptable. The fix that Oliver’s
team came up with proved to be one of its few
failures. 59 Tactics used for the rescue mission
were subsequently modified to allow for a gear-up
“FLIR pass” by a Combat Talon down the runway
to determine if the runway was clear of obstacles.
The FLIR bird would then maneuver to land at
the end of the aircraft flow. (When the Combat
Talon II and the AC-130U gunship were developed
and fielded in the late 1980s, the FLIR prob -
lem was finally solved by installing the FLIR ball
in front of the nose gear. This arrangement allowed
FLIR operation with the landing gear
down. The requirement for a covert installation
was no longer a factor, since many aircraft were
equipped with FLIR by that time.)
* * * * * *
January 1980 would prove to be the most demanding
month during the preparation for the
mission. Kyle had continued to work with his
planners and had settled on a plan that required
six Combat Talons for Night One—Brenci’s lead
aircraft would carry the ranger airfield security
force, Jubelt’s and Osborne’s aircraft would carry
Delta Force, and Uttaro and Meller’s aircraft
would be configured as bladder birds to refuel
the helicopters. Four Combat Talons originally
had been planned for the mission, but with the
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