Wild Weasel
Encyclopedia : W : WI : WIL : Wild Weasel
Wild Weasel is a nickname for aircraft of the United States Air Force tasked with the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (or SEAD) mission. Notionally, this represents the way that weasels hunt for snakes, using themselves as bait.
Wild Weasel tactics were originally devised in 1965 as a method of countering the increasing North Vietnamese SAM threat, using volunteer crews flying the two-seat F model of the F-100 Super Sabre. However, the Super Sabre F, while an effective airframe, had first flown in 1956, and was simply not designed for the mission it was performing.
The Wild Weasel role was then passed in the summer of 1966 to specially trained crews flying the F-105F Thunderchief. The F-105 was a better platform for this role, carrying more advanced radar, jamming equipment, and a heavier armament. The interim F-105F was eventually replaced by a genuine Wild Weasel variant; 61 F-105F units were upgraded to F-105G specifications.
However, new F-105s had gone out of production by 1964, and with attrition of F-105s, the need for a still more sophisticated aircraft was apparent. At that time the Air Force ordered 36 F-4C aircraft, designated EF-4C Wild Weasel IV. However, this aircraft was seen as an interim type, mostly due to the fact that the F-4C was the Air Force's original fighter version of the Phantom. The F-4E, however, was a dedicated all-weather multirole fighter, with extensive ground attack capabilities. It was this model that served as the basis for the F-4G Wild Weasel V. 116 G models were built, the first one flying in 1975. Squadron service began in 1978. While too late for the Vietnam war, the Wild Weasel V served with air crews until 1996. By this time the F-4G was the last variant of the Phantom II still in Air Force service.
Currently a variant of the F-16 Fighting Falcon performs the Wild Weasel mission, the F-16 Block 50D and Block 52D. Production began in 1991, and the F-16 continues to serve with the Air Force at this time.
As the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is considered to be the F-16's replacement, it is possible that a Wild Weasel version of the JSF will be built at some point.
Mission Tactics
In 1966, over Hanoi, North Vietnam, Wild Weasel flights of four aircraft sometimes were lead by a single F-105F/G two-seat aircraft (aided by its Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) with his electronic receivers & analyzers) plus three F-105Ds. Sometimes two "F"s, each with a "D" wingman, operated independently.
The Wild Weasel mission was to precede strike flights, sanitizing the target area of radar guided Surface-to-Air Missile SA-2 'Guideline' threats; leaving the threat area last, sometimes resulting in 3.5 hour missions, returning to Royal Thai Air Force Bases. This was achieved by occasionally turning toward the air defense site in a threatening manner, or by firing radar homing missiles at the site, or by visually locating the site to dive bomb it. These tactics were attempted while under attack by MiGs and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA).
The F-105F did not utilize radar jammers since its purpose was to provide a decoy target, protecting the strike flights, and encouraging a SAM launch which generated enough white smoke to facilitate visually locating the SAM site for immediate dive bombing attack.
With multiple in-coming missiles in visual sight it was possible to dive abruptly-sharply (break) to avoid them. Failure to visually see the missiles approaching at three times fighter cruise speed would result in the destruction of the aircraft and failure of the mission.
Trivia
The unofficial motto of the Wild Weasel crews is YGBSM – You Gotta Be Shittin' Me. As the story goes, this was the response of Weasel crews when they first learned what the mission entailed. The missions were so dangerous and required so much teamwork that before starting their combat tours, Weasel crews took part in a mock wedding ceremony. Wild Weasel aircraft can be identified by the "WW" tailcode.See also
- Broughton, J. (1996) Thud ridge. Imagination Transportation. ISBN 1888237090
- Broughton, J. (1988) Going downtown: The war against Hanoi and Washington Crown. ISBN 0517567385
- McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume II, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute Press, 1990.
- McDonnell F-4 Phantom: Spirit in the Skies. Airtime Publishing, 1992.
- Modern Air Combat, Bill Gunston and Mike Spick, Crescent, 1983.
- The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.
- United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
- The Fury of Desert Storm--The Air Campaign, Bret Kinzey, McGraw- Hill, 1991.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament, Bill Gunston, Orion, 1988.
- The World's Great Attack Aircraft, Gallery, 1988.
- Wild Weasel Phantoms, Rene Francillon, Air International, Vol 47, No. 1, 1994.
External links
- http://edefense.blogspot.com/2005/11/in-their-own-words-8-eleven-stories.html Story of the first Wild Weasel kill
- http://www.wildweasels.org/ Society of Wild Weasels
- http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f4_19.html
- http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/modern_flight/mf29.htm
- http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/f4/wildweasel.htm
- http://www.vogue-web.ch/f4
- [Craig Baker's F-105 Site]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.