Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star
The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star is an American airborne early warning and control radar surveillance aircraft operational in the 1950s in both the United States Navy and United States Air Force.
The military version of the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation was used to serve as an airborne early warning system to supplement the Distant Early Warning Line, using two large radomes. It replaced the TBM-3W used by the USN. Some EC-121s were also used for signal intelligence gathering. The EC-121 was introduced in 1954 and phased out in 1978, although a single specially modified EW aircraft remained in USN service until 1982.
The USN versions when initially procured were designated WV-1, WV-2, and WV-3. The USAF Warning Stars served during the Vietnam War both as electronic sensor monitors and as a forerunner to the Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS. USAF aircrews adopted its civil nickname, "Connie" as reference, USN aircrews used the nickname "Willie Victor".
Development
Since 1943, the Lockheed Constellation had been in USAAF service as the C-69. The use of the Constellation by the USN for patrol and airborne early warning duties was first investigated in 1949, when the USN acquired two Lockheed L-749 Constellations. First flown on 9 June 1949, the PO-1W carried large, long-range radars in massive radomes above and below the fuselage. As the radomes possessed considerably more side area, the vertical stabilizers of the PO-1W had to be enlarged. After the PO-1W had proved that operating large radars on aircraft was possible, the USN ordered the WV-2 based on the L-1049 Super Constellation. The WV-1s were transferred to the Federal Aviation Agency in 1958–1959.The WV-2/EC-121D was initially fitted with a dorsal AN/APS-45 height finder and a ventral AN/APS-20 search radar. These were later upgraded to AN/APS-103 and AN/APS-95 radars, although not simultaneously. The crew commonly numbered 18, six officers and 12 enlisted. However, when North Korea shot down a Navy EC-121 in 1969, a crew of 31 was on board.
Orders were placed totaling 142 PO-2W Constellations based on the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation, with deliveries beginning in 1953. The PO-2W was redesignated WV-2 in 1954. In 1962, with standardization of aircraft designations within the Department of Defense, the WV-2 then became the EC-121K. In total, 13 of these were converted to WV-2Q electronic intelligence aircraft. Nine were converted to WV-3 weather reconnaissance aircraft. The EC-121K was also operated by Training Squadron 86 at NAS Glynco, Georgia, for training of student naval flight officers destined to fly both the EC-121 and the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye. At NAS Glynco's closure, VT-86 transferred to NAS Pensacola, Florida, in 1973, the squadron's last EC-121 was also flown to NAS Pensacola, being stored in the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation, where it still remains. A single aircraft became an NC-121K, the electronic warfare variant assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 33 at NAS Key West, Florida. The aircraft was the last EC-121 in operational service, flying until 25 June 1982.
The USAF received 10 RC-121C and 74 EC-121D Warning Stars also based on the L-1049, beginning with diversions from the Navy contracts in October 1953. The 10 RC-121Cs became trainers, designated TC-121C. Between 1966 and 1969, 30 retired USN EC-121s were transferred to USAF and converted in EC-121Rs as sensor-monitoring aircraft. Of the 74 EC-121s, 42 were converted to the EC-121H upgrade beginning in 1962, and in 1969, 15 of the remaining EC-121Ds and seven of the EC-121Hs were further upgraded into the final operational variant, the EC-121T, serving as an AWACS prototype in Southeast Asia in 1972. Five EC-121Ds were modified to be broadcasting aircraft for psychological warfare operations, the predecessors of the EC-130 Commando Solo.
Operational service
USN
WV-2s, redesignated EC-121s in 1962, served from 1954 to 1965 in two "barrier" forces, one off each coast of the North American continent. The barrier forces consisted of five surface picket stations each manned by radar destroyer escorts and an air wing of WV-2s/EC-121s that patrolled the picket lines at 1,000–4,000 m altitude in 6- to 20-hour missions. Their objective was to extend early warning coverage against surprise Soviet bomber and missile attacks as an extension of the DEW Line.In April 1954, the first Lockheed Super Constellation, WV-2 BuNo. 128323, was received at NAS Barbers Point by Airborne Early Warning Squadron One.
The Atlantic Barrier consisted of two rotating squadron detachments sourced from AEW Squadron Thirteen and AEW Squadron Fifteen from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland and one squadron, AEW Squadron Eleven, permanently based at Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland. Their mission was to fly orbits to the Azores and back. An additional AEW training unit was based at NAS Patuxent River for training flight crews and maintenance personnel.
BARLANT became operational on 1 July 1956, and flew continuous coverage until early 1965. The barrier was shifted to cover the approaches between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom barrier in June 1961. Aircraft from Argentia were staged through NAS Keflavik, Iceland, to extend coverage times.
The Pacific Barrier received the first operational AEW squadron, Airborne Early Warning Squadron One and the first EC-121K aircraft. AEW Squadron Three followed with AEW Squadrons Twelve, Fourteen, and Sixteen. In January 1958 VW-1 and VW-3 relocated to NAS Agana, Guam, M.I. where VW-1 continued its AEW commitments and VW-3 operational commitment was divided between AEW and weather. BARPAC became operational with AEW Squadron Twelve based at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii, operating from a deployment base at NAS Midway on 1 July 1958 and later expanded to include AEW Squadrons Fourteen and Sixteen. Their orbits overlapped the radar picket stations of the ships of Escort Squadron Seven, from roughly Adak Island to Midway. Normally, five WV-2s/EC-121s were required at any single time to provide coverage over the entire line.
The Hawaiian barrier force operations were discontinued by September 1965, and their EC-121K aircraft were placed in storage. However, VW-1 continued operating until 1972, flying weather ops and supplying AEW to naval forces in the Gulf of Tonkin. USN C-121, EC-121, WC-12,1 and NC-121 operations continued until 1975 in seven other squadrons and until 1982 in an eighth. Some EC-121s were used in Vietnam, mirroring USAF EC-121 missions, but orbiting the Gulf of Tonkin, as that was the USN's assigned area.
Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One and Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two operated EC-121M ELINT gathering aircraft at NAF Atsugi, Japan, and Naval Station Rota, Spain, respectively, until they transitioned to the EP-3B Orion and EP-3E Aries aircraft.
Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Four operated WV-3-cum-WC-121s between 1954 and 1975 as Hurricane Hunters, with its primary base at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, and a forward base at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Its Pacific counterpart, Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Three Typhoon Trackers was the operational weather squadron in the Pacific, flying from NAS Agana, Guam, tracking typhoons from 1955 to 1960. On June 30, 1960 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Three, VW-3, disbanded and many of its aircraft and crews were absorbed by VW-1, which retained AEW designation and took on the weather commitments and the Title of "Typhoon Trackers" of VW-3. VW-4 later transitioned to WP-3A Orion.
Also operating C-121 and EC-121 aircraft was Oceanographic Development Squadron Eight at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, which employed the aircraft for specific projects for the Office of Naval Research until they were replaced by RP-3A and RP-3D Orion aircraft. VXN-8 also operated four additional NC-121 aircraft called the "Blue Eagles". These specially modified aircraft were equipped with complete radio and television transmitting equipment and studios for simultaneous broadcast of American and Vietnamese television and radio programs prior to the installation of ground stations during the Vietnam War. The aircraft flew nightly 7 days per week broadcasting such American TV programs as Combat, Have Gun-Will Travel, and Gunsmoke, along with other popular programs of the time in addition to Vietnamese programs recorded prior to each flight. Nightly American news broadcasts were transmitted live using an onboard TV studio and an Air Force newscaster bringing the latest news from home and the world. The "Blue Eagles" operated out of Saigon and Danang Air Bases for around 5 years commencing in 1965.
Air Development Squadron Six at NAS Glynco, Georgia, for training student naval flight officers destined for the E-2 Hawkeye and by Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 33 for the Fleet Electronic Warfare Systems Group at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, and later, following a squadron homeport change, at NAS Key West, Florida. At the time of its retirement on June 25, 1982, VAQ-33's NC-121K aircraft, Buno 141292 was the last NC-121K and the last of its type operated by the USN.
USAF
The USAF operated EC-121s between 1954 and 1978, with three wings at maximum employment and three independent squadrons as operations wound down. Until the Vietnam War, their primary mission was to provide complementary early warning radar coverage to the Pacific and Atlantic barriers by flying orbits offshore from the continental United States in what were termed "contiguous barriers". The coverage orbits overlapped those of land-based early warning radars.Initial deployment of EC-121Cs began with 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, based at Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Operational on 21 December 1954, 551st AEWCW subsequently upgraded to EC-121D and later EC-121H Warning Stars.
Its Pacific counterpart was 552d Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, based at McClellan Air Force Base, California, becoming operational on 1 July 1955. After the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, 552nd AEWCW also had administrative control of the 966th AEWCS, based at McCoy Air Force Base, Florida. The 966th had a dual mission - monitoring activity in Cuban airspace and flying Gold Digger missions.
The third air wing to operate EC-121s was 553rd Reconnaissance Wing, a Vietnam war organization activated in 1967 and based in Thailand until inactivation in 1970. In 1966, Lockheed modified 30 ex-USN Super Constellations aircraft to EC-121Rs for the specialized reconnaissance mission flown by the 553rd. Aircraft were delivered during the course of 1967. The 553rd RW flew over land and off the coast of Vietnam, over Laos and Cambodia, monitoring and retransmitting low-power signals. Usually, they orbited the Ho Chi Minh Trail in 8-hour shifts. As it was expensive to operate and it exposed a large crew to enemy fire, it was replaced in December 1970 by the much smaller QU-22 Pave Eagle sensor monitor.
The 551st AEWCW inactivated in 1969, while the 552d was reduced by a squadron in 1971. In July 1974, USAF redesignated 552d Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing as 552d Airborne Warning and Control Group when it was downsized to a single squadron. It inactivated in April 1976.
As the USAF prepared for deploying the E-3 Sentry in the later 1970s, it phased out EC-121 operations by the end of 1975. All remaining EC-121s transferred to Air Force Reserve, which formed the 79th AEWCS at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, in early 1976. The active duty force continued providing personnel to operate the EC-121s on a 24-hour basis, assigning Detachment 1, 20th Air Defence Squadron to Homestead AFB as associate active duty crews to fly the AFRES-owned aircraft. Besides monitoring Cuban waters, these last Warning Stars also operated from NAS Keflavik. Final EC-121 ops ended in September 1978. Detachment 1 dissolved and 79th AEWCS was redesignated a fighter squadron on 1 October 1978.
In 1967, five EC-121s became operational with the 193rd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, responsible for psychological operations missions under project Coronet Solo. From July 1970 to January 1971, they rotated on 30- to 90-day temporary-duty deployments to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, under the name Commando Buzz.