Wild weasel

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Wild weasel patch with YGBSM lettering

Wild Weasel is an unofficial name for aircraft of the United States Air Force , which are tasked with the suppression of enemy air defenses (Engl. Suppression of enemy air defenses ). The name comes from the Wild Weasel project, the first development program for anti-aircraft and anti-radar aircraft. The Wild Weasel concept was developed during the Vietnam War in order to be able to take action against the high number of North Vietnamese radar-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAM).

During operations, the search is made for emissions from fire control radar devices or the activation of the Wild Weasel aircraft is provoked in order to determine the position using triangulation and then mark it. Thereafter, the radar display is either with missiles that have a special seeker head that reacts to the transmission pulses of the radar (anti-radiation missile (ARM), for example AGM-45 Shrike , AGM-78 Standard ARM , AGM-88 HARM (High- Speed ​​ARM)) or sometimes with conventional armament. The missions are mostly flown in a formation of 4 or two formations of 2, with one part playing the “decoy”, while the other part takes over the attack; this division is also known as the “ Hunter-Killer Team”. When the bombing of North Vietnam resumed in 1972 as part of Operation Linebacker , mixed formations of two F-105G and two F4 were flying . The F-105G acted as "hunters", which had the task of identifying and fighting the radar. The "killer" component flew F-4D / E Phantoms and attacked the marked SAM positions with conventional bombs in order to destroy launch devices and missiles. Due to the dangerous nature of these missions, only volunteer pilots were trained for the wild weasel task. The unofficial motto of the crews was YGBSM (Engl. Y ou G otta B e S hittin ' M e to German as "You want me but kidding"), which allegedly the standard statement of the first Wild Weasel EWOS (Engl. Electronic Warfare Officer, in German about electronic warfare officer ) was when they found out what the Wild Weasel concept entails. The tactic against anti-aircraft missiles that were already approaching was to first fly towards them and then to avoid them in a sharp curve shortly before coming into the effective area of ​​the warhead. On the one hand, there was a risk that the aircraft would be damaged or destroyed if the evasive maneuver was initiated too late, but if the maneuver was initiated too early, the anti-aircraft missile could follow the aircraft. If several SAM missiles were fired, there was a risk that an aircraft would have to avoid several missiles or several aircraft would have to fly evasive maneuvers at the same time, creating a risk of collision.

An F-4G with AGM-88 HARM , AGM-65 Maverick , ALQ-119 ECM jammers, AGM-78 Standard ARM and AGM-45 Shrike , recorded around 1981

The first plane, which was extended in 1965 for this role was the F-100F Wild Weasel I . Since the F-100 did not have the performance characteristics to survive in such a dangerous environment, the role was replaced in the summer of 1966 by the Republic F-105 Thunderchief in the variant F (Wild Weasel II) and later in the improved variant G (Wild Weasel III). Due to the discontinuation of the F-105 production in 1964, a successor had to be found and was found in the F-4C Phantom II , designated as Wild Weasel IV. Ultimately, the E variant formed the basis for the best-known and most successful Wild- Weasel configuration, the F-4G Wild Weasel V, which began its missions in 1978. It remained as the last Phantom version within the USAF until 1996 and worked together with the F-16 Fighting Falcon in the "Hunter Killer Team". Today the Wild Weasel role is only carried out by the F-16 CJ Block 50/52 (also stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany), also known as the SAM Hunter .

technology

In the case of the F-4G Wild Weasel V - also known as the Advanced Wild Weasel - the 20 mm M61A1 cannon has been removed and replaced with frontal and side-facing antennas for the AN / APR-38 radar warning system. This system could recognize and identify fire control radar systems and sort them according to programmed priorities. The displays of the EWO in the rear seat consisted of a so-called plan position display to display the distance and direction of the individual anti-aircraft radars, a panorama analysis display for type identification and marking of the highest priority of each perceived threat, and an extended target marking display. The former cannon casing below the nose was equipped with an air inlet to ensure the cooling of the avionic systems installed there. The main radar was the F-4E's AN / APQ-120 with a new processor. There were a total of 52 transmitting or receiving antennas for the wild weasel task on the aircraft.

The Wild Weasels during Desert Storm

An AGM-88 HARM (below) next to an AIM-9 (middle) and AIM-120 (above) on an F-16C

The 35th TFW (Eng. Tactical Fighter Wing) from George AFB, California, and the 52nd TFW from Spangdahlem, Germany, were relocated to Sheik Isa AFB in Bahrain and Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to be part of Operation Desert Storm to act. According to the Wild Weasel concept, the F-4Gs, in cooperation with the F-16, bombed a corridor of Iraqi anti-aircraft missile positions for the subsequent bomber units and destroyed radar systems and control centers of the air forces . A single F-4G was lost, and only because it had missed the tanker and could not make an emergency landing at the Al-Kharj air base in Saudi Arabia due to lack of fuel, fog and failed lighting. The crew was able to save themselves with the ejection seat .

Due to the success of the Wild Weasel during the Second Gulf War , the F-4G was still used in the no-fly zones during Operation Southern Watch (protection of the Shiite population) and Operation Provide Comfort II (protection of the Kurdish population).

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