Despite the efforts made, the Americans did not manage to turn the tide in Vietnam. The use of the slow B-52 strategic bombers was too expensive, not only in terms of operation. In the late 60s, in the skies of Indochina, they were opposed by 85 and 100-mm anti-aircraft guns, interceptors MiG-21 and SAM SA-75. During "carpet" bombing, performed in horizontal flight from an altitude of 9000-12000 m, a rectangle of the "lunar landscape" with dimensions of 2600 x 800 m was formed on the ground. But it was only about hitting area targets. Often bombs fell on areas of the jungle where there were no guerrillas, or on the houses of civilians.
They tried to adapt the B-58 Hustler supersonic bomber to hit point targets of particular importance. To do this, four Hustlers arrived at Eglin airbase in the spring of 1967 and experimented with weapons.
The B-58, designed to replace the B-47, from the very beginning was "sharpened" only for the delivery of nuclear weapons, and was intended to break through air defense at high supersonic speeds and high altitudes. The aircraft was equipped with an AN / ASQ-42 sighting and navigation system, which is quite complex by the standards of the 60s. Defensive armament consisted of a 20-mm six-barreled cannon with an automated radar fire control system, an active jamming station and automatic dipole reflector ejection machines. The thermonuclear bomb was suspended in a special streamlined container at the bottom of the fuselage. The maximum combat load could reach 8800 kg.
A three-seater aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 80,240 kg, could deliver nuclear strikes at a range of 3,200 km. Maximum flight speed 2300 km / h, cruising speed - 985 km / h. "Hustler" was able to accelerate sharply and make rapid supersonic throws when breaking through air defense lines. At the time of its appearance, the B-58 had better acceleration characteristics than any existing interceptor, and in terms of the duration of movement at supersonic speed, it left far behind the most advanced fighters of that time.
The B-58 bomber had very high flight performance, but its cost of $ 12 million in prices of the late 50s was exorbitant. The operation of an aircraft with a very complex avionics was too expensive. In addition, the number of accidents and disasters turned out to be unacceptably high. Of the 116 aircraft built, 26 were lost in flight accidents.
In the second half of the 60s, clouds thickened over the Hustler. After the massive deployment of air defense systems and the appearance in the USSR of supersonic interceptors with guided missiles, the B-58 ceased to be an "absolute weapon". In order to extend the combat service of the Hustler, they tried to adapt it for the destruction of especially important targets with non-nuclear aviation ammunition. Towards the end of the career, several B-58s were retrofitted for the suspension of four 908-kg Mk.64 bombs. Despite the generally positive test results, the Hasler failed to take part in the Vietnam War. The bomb-laden aircraft was quite stable when flying at high speeds at high altitudes. But in 1967, high flight speed and altitude no longer guaranteed invulnerability. High-speed flights at low altitude proved to be very tiring for the crew and downright dangerous. In addition, the takeoff and landing characteristics of the aircraft for field airfields in Southeast Asia were unacceptably low, and the cost of maintenance was prohibitively high.
After Israel's victory in the 1967 war, the Israelis had a significant amount of Soviet-made equipment and weapons at their disposal. Israel, quite predictably, shared the trophies with the United States. The Americans were especially interested in the capabilities of Soviet radars. The SNR-75 anti-aircraft missile guidance station, as well as the P-12 and P-35 radars, were delivered to the Florida training ground, where they were tested in comparison with the American AN / TPS-43A all-round station. American experts came to the conclusion that despite some lag in the development of the electronic element base, large dimensions and weight, Soviet radars demonstrated quite acceptable characteristics of the detection range and noise immunity. A detailed study of the operating modes of the missile and radar guidance station helped in the creation of suspended containers for electronic suppression of individual and group protection. At the first stage of testing, the EB-57 Canberra and EA-6 Prowler electronic warfare aircraft were tested against Soviet radio systems.
In 1968, the largest climate chamber in the United States was built at the airbase. A prototype of the C-5A Galaxy military transport aircraft was tested in it in severe frost. Freezing hangar area is 5100 m².
On August 15, 1970, a group of new rescue helicopters Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low set off on their own from the Eglin airbase to the South Vietnamese airfield Da Nang. They arrived at their destination on August 24, making seven intermediate landings and flying 14,064 km. On the MH-53 route, HC-130P tankers were escorted.
In 1971, testing of the AC-23A Peacemaker and AU-24A Stallion mini gunships began at the test site. The aircraft were armed with a three-barreled 20-mm cannon XM-197 and could carry a combat load weighing up to 900 kg on the underwing pylons. The maximum speed was 280-340 km / h.
Externally similar aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of about 3 tons were created on the basis of commercial single-engine turboprop machines. The goal of the Pave coin program was to create reasonably efficient low-cost combat aircraft capable of operating from poorly prepared sites. During military tests in a combat situation, aircraft were involved in escorting helicopters, supporting ground forces, transporting goods using the possibility of a shortened takeoff and landing, armed reconnaissance, forward air guidance and repelling attacks by partisan groups on forward posts.
The USAF ordered 15 AC-23A and 20 AC-24A. However, the Americans themselves preferred to fight in more protected and faster vehicles. And the "mini gunships" were transferred to the allies - the air forces of Cambodia and Thailand.
In 1972, the airbase began to implement a program for converting F-84F, F-102A and F-104D fighters into radio-controlled targets, as well as AGM-28 Hound Dog air-launched cruise missiles. This was due to the fact that the Air Force began a massive write-off of equipment and weapons produced in the 50s. The equipment came from the "graveyard of bones" in Davis Montan, and in some cases directly from combat squadrons. The following were installed as ground targets at conventional enemy airfields: A-5 Vigilante, F-84F Thunderstreak, F-89J Scorpion, F-100 Super Sabers, TF-102A Delta Dagger, HH-43A Huskie, and T-33A Shooting Star. To test anti-tank weapons, a very significant number of tanks arrived at the test site: M26, M41, M47 and M48, M53 / T97 self-propelled guns and M113 armored personnel carriers. Some armored vehicles produced in the 50s and 60s still serve as training targets.
In the summer of 1972, an apparently unremarkable light piston aircraft with a low wing Windecker YE-5A landed on the Eglin runway, which was a civilian Windexer Eagle specially modified for testing.
A feature of the aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of about 1500 kg was that, with the exception of the engine and a number of minor parts, it was entirely made of fiberglass and was difficult to distinguish on the radar screens. Within the framework of the CADDO YE-5A project, it was tested for about a year. It tested ground stations of different frequency ranges and aviation radars.
During the Yom Kippur War, Israel came close to military defeat as never before, and its Air Force suffered heavy casualties. To compensate for Israeli losses and save its ally, the United States carried out an emergency transfer of aircraft. Combat aircraft, after minimal training, were withdrawn from the combatant aviation units of the US Air Force. The Edwards airbase was no exception in this respect. Beginning on October 19, 1973, pilots of the 33rd Tactical Aviation Wing flew at least fifteen F-4E Phantom II fighter-bombers to Israeli airfields.
In the first half of 1973, prototypes of the General Electric GAU-8 / A Avenger seven-barreled 30-mm cannon were tested in the aviation weapons laboratory.
Later, this gun, capable of firing armor-piercing projectiles with a depleted uranium core, was installed on the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. During the tests, several tens of thousands of shells were fired and up to 7 tons of Uranium-238 were scattered on the ground. Later, they managed to collect a little more than half of the radioactive material.
In January 1975, the first pre-production A-10 Thunderbolt II arrived at the airbase for weapons testing. This is where the numerous decommissioned tanks placed on the landfill sites came in handy. Armor-piercing 30-mm PGU-14 / B projectiles with a depleted uranium core stably pierced the side and upper armor of tanks, and aluminum M113 armored personnel carriers pierced as if they were made of paper. When the armor is pierced, the material of the cores is exposed to the strongest temperature and mechanical stress, the uranium dust sprayed in the air ignites, providing a good incendiary effect.
The GAU-8 / A 30 mm aircraft cannon was originally designed to combat armored vehicles. The mass of the entire installation, with ammunition and projectile delivery system, is 1830 kg. The rate of fire of the gun can reach 4200 rpm. In order to avoid overheating of the barrels, firing is carried out in bursts, lasting 1-2 seconds, the recommended burst length is not more than 150 shots.
The ammunition load includes high-explosive incendiary and armor-piercing shells. An armor-piercing projectile weighing 360 g, leaving the barrel at a speed of 980 m / s, at a distance of 500 meters is capable of penetrating 70 mm homogeneous armor. The shooting accuracy is quite high. Approximately 80% of shells fired from a distance of 1200 meters fall into a circle with a diameter of 12 meters.
The flip side of the high armor penetration of shells with uranium cores is that uranium is still radioactive and extremely toxic. When enemy armored vehicles are destroyed during hostilities, this is an additional damaging factor for the crews. But when tested at our own test sites, equipment fired with uranium shells cannot subsequently be disposed of in the usual manner and must be stored at special sites.
From the very beginning, the armored and relatively low-speed A-10 attack aircraft were intended to counter Soviet tank armies in Europe. Therefore, the vehicles carried dark green camouflage, which should have made them less visible against the background of the earth.
At the Florida training ground, attack pilots, in addition to practicing the skills of firing from 30-mm air cannons, dropped bombs with brake parachutes from low-level flight and used unguided 70-mm rockets. The A-10A attack aircraft also included AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles. The combat debut of "Maverick" with a television guidance system took place at the final stage of the Vietnam War. But for use from a single-seat attack aircraft, missiles were required that were launched on the “fire and forget” principle or that could be guided from an external source of target designation.
These requirements were met by missiles with thermal and laser guidance systems. At some stage, the AGM-65D UR with the IR seeker was considered as an anti-tank weapon. Indeed, the Maverick's ability to reliably target tanks with simulators matching the thermal signature of a running engine was confirmed at the test site.
However, using rockets weighing 210-290 kg and costing more than $ 100 thousand against Soviet-made T-55 and T-62 tanks would be extremely wasteful. After the collapse of the USSR, these combat vehicles were offered on the arms market at a price of $ 50-60 thousand. It was more justified to use Mavericks to destroy fortified bunkers, reinforced concrete aircraft hangars, bridges, overpasses, etc. In addition, the AGM-65 missiles had a certain anti-ship potential. Since March 1975, regular missile launches have been carried out on the decommissioned USS Ozark MCS-2 amphibious assault ship drifting in the Gulf of Mexico.
Initially, missiles with an inert warhead were used on the ship. But even "blanks" without explosives produced too much destruction, and it became more and more difficult to return the target ship to service each time.
As a result, in 1981, as a result of the hit of the "Maverick" with a real warhead, the ship with a total displacement of 9000 tons and a length of 138 m received "damage incompatible with life" and sank 12 hours after the attack.
After the successful adaptation of the AGM-65 Maverick missiles on the A-10 attack aircraft, the Marine Corps command expressed a desire to increase the strike capabilities of the Douglas A-4M Skyhawk. Although the USMC aviation had its own proving grounds and test centers, the presence of a good experimental and testing base at the Eglin and the high qualifications of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory specialists, became the main determining factors when choosing a site for upgrading the Skyhawks for Maverick missiles.
In the second half of the 70s, aircraft equipment was tested in Florida, which now forms the basis of the US Air Force. First of all, this applies to 4th generation fighters, helicopters, overhead surveillance and aiming containers and corrected aerial bombs.
In 1975, the US Air Force Armaments Laboratory began testing the AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missile. Compared to the AGM-65, it was a much lighter and cheaper missile with laser or semi-active radar guidance, and it was much better suited to combat armored vehicles. The main carrier of "Hellfire", weighing 45-50 kg depending on the modification, became combat helicopters and drones.
From September to November 1976 a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was tested at Edwards. The main emphasis was placed on testing in the "climatic hangar". In the temperature range from -40 to + 52 ° C.
In 1978, the F-4E Phantom II fighter-bombers in the 33rd Tactical Aviation Wing were replaced by McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle fighters. The still not old "Phantoms" with a large flight resource, after entering the combat units of the new generation fighters, were massively transferred to the air forces of the Allied countries. Transferred in the late 70s and early 80s, the F-4Es until recently served in Egypt, Turkey, Greece and South Korea.
After the failure of the operation to rescue American citizens taken hostage in Iran, the US military did not accept the failure and in 1980 began preparations for Operation Reliable Sport. For penetration into Iranian airspace, it was supposed to use a specially modified MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft. A transport vehicle equipped with brake missiles was supposed to land at night at a stadium near the captured American embassy.
After the special operation, the plane with the rescued hostages and soldiers of the Delta group carried out a short take-off with the help of 30 MK-56 solid-fuel lifting engines from the RIM-66 missile defense system. Since there was no fuel left for the return trip, "Hercules" had to land on the aircraft carrier. In addition to the use of rocket braking and lifting motors, a significant revision of the wing mechanization was carried out to reduce the take-off and landing distance. The aircraft was equipped with a flight system with automatic terrain avoidance, improved communication and navigation equipment, as well as electronic warfare systems. The plan, of course, was an adventurous one, but preparations for the operation were in full swing. Three transport aircraft arrived for testing at the secluded Wagner Field near Edwards AFB. The flights of the head YMC-130Н began in an atmosphere of strict secrecy on August 24, 1981.
During the next test flight, during the landing approach, the flight engineer started the brake jet engines too early, and the plane stopped in the air at a height of several meters. Upon hitting the ground, the right plane fell off, and a fire began. Thanks to the efforts of the rescue services, the crew was promptly evacuated, the fire was quickly extinguished, and no one was injured. Most of the valuable electronic equipment was saved, and the tests continued on another aircraft. In order to maintain secrecy, the wreckage of the crashed plane was buried near the runway.
After Ronald Reagan came to power in 1981, the hostages were released diplomatically. One copy of the YMC-130H was used as a prototype for the creation of the MC-130 Combat Talon II special operations aircraft and is now in the Aviation Museum at Robins AFB.
