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      • Chris Hobson
      • Dave Lovelady
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    • Background to the Wars in Southeast Asia
    • 1961 to 1964: Civil War in Laos/Early Operations in South Vietnam
    • 1965: Escalation of the War/Start of Rolling Thunder
    • 1966: Rolling Thunder Gets into its Stride
    • 1967: Rolling Thunder - The Peak Year
    • 1968: Tet, Khe Sanh, and the End of Rolling Thunder
    • 1969: Interdiction on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
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    • 1972: The Spring Invasion/Linebacker Campaigns
    • 1973: Winding Up the War
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The EC-121R Bat Cat (Apr 1969)

An integral part of the Igloo White sensor system for detecting enemy activity on the Ho Chi Minh Trail was the EC-121R Bat Cat aircraft. Lockheed Air Services converted thirty surplus US Navy EC-121K and EC-121P aircraft to EC-121R configuration in 1966-1967. The 553rd RW was formed at Otis AFB, Massachusetts in February 1967 to operate the aircraft. The Wing deployed to Korat in October 1967 and was tasked with the collection of electronic intelligence information. Normally the aircraft orbited over South Vietnam, Laos or even North Vietnam for about eight hours while its seven-man combat information crew tuned into radio transmissions from air-dropped sensors. A variety of these sensors were used with names like Acoubuoy, Spikebuoy, Adsid and Acousid and they relayed acoustic and seismic information from the nearby movement of trucks and people on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The information received from these sensors could be relayed to the Task Force Alpha centre at Nakhon Phanom or it could be analysed on board the EC-121Rs by its mission crew of radio and electronic specialists. The information thus received was used for the targeting of air strikes on sections of the Trail which were known to be active. By mid-1970 the number of EC-121Rs at Korat had been reduced from the original 27 to nine aircraft and the Wing was inactivated on 15 December 1970.

 

 

 

 

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© Chris Hobson and David Lovelady. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
      • Chris Hobson
      • Dave Lovelady
    • About the Book
    • About the Data
    • About this Site
  • Sidelines
    • Background to the Wars in Southeast Asia
    • 1961 to 1964: Civil War in Laos/Early Operations in South Vietnam
    • 1965: Escalation of the War/Start of Rolling Thunder
    • 1966: Rolling Thunder Gets into its Stride
    • 1967: Rolling Thunder - The Peak Year
    • 1968: Tet, Khe Sanh, and the End of Rolling Thunder
    • 1969: Interdiction on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
    • 1970: The Year of Withdrawal
    • 1971: A Much Reduced Presence
    • 1972: The Spring Invasion/Linebacker Campaigns
    • 1973: Winding Up the War
  • Statistics
    • Loss Statistics
    • Losses Due to Air Base Attacks
    • Losses Due to Accidents on the Ground or Aboard Ship
    • US Air Force Loss Statistics
    • US Navy Loss Statistics
    • US Marine Corps Loss Statistics
  • Details
    • Order of Battle
    • Index of Names
    • Abbreviations and Glossary of Operations, Code Names, and Projects
    • Bibliography
  • Searching the Database
    • Hints on How to Search
    • Notes and Caveats
    • Searching for Call Signs
    • Search Forms
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contact Us
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