The Wild Weasels - When Electronic Warfare Became Real
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- brilliant.org/...
In many ways the story of the Wild Weasels is the story of the beginnings of electronic warfare between the radar crew on the ground and the weasels in the air. This was also the first time that electronics had been used to find targets actively during a mission rather than predetermined beforehand, and of course, this was matched only by the bravery of the men required to fly down a radar beam and put the site out of action before the missile got them.
This video is sponsored by Brilliant : brilliant.org/...
Written, researched and presented by Paul Shillito
Images and footage : USAF, US Navy, Mcdonnell Douglas, Kerry Bowers
A big thank you also goes to all our Patreons :-)
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Somewhere I remember a documentary about Vietnam, and there was audio of a wild weasel pilot talking over the radio. Somebody asked him if he knew where the enemy SAM site was, and he replied in a calm, cool voice, "Not yet. I'm trying to get him to shoot at me." Crazy and fearless indeed.
One can only assumed he also kept screaming "shoot me you little bitch!" At the jungle afterwards
Those crews had balls of steel.
VQ-1 did it too A3s and EC 121s
The early SAMS , like in Vietnam , it was realistic to think you could out maneuver , If early warning was early
The more I dwell on it, the more I fear that my last moments would be less composed and with little to none of the dignity or ice that I'd hope to end on but that I've been astounded to learn about.
"Don't worry boys, I'll take 'em all out before bingo fuel and then fly my last missile back to HQ 👍.........?........copy me ? 😤FFS I'm waiting to hear how cool I am OR how about not letting me throw it all awa- "
"You've gotta be shitting me" .......... I'm sorry but no other description of the Wild Weasel mission makes any sense.
You don't have to apologise.
SAMAAA busters, still exists Today
“YGBSM” is definitely a candidate for one of the best acronyms ever.
My personal favourite is 'WYSIWYG', pronounced 'whizzy wig'.
SNAFU is classic and still the best!
YWNBAW
I don't think it's technically an acronym, though, unless there is a way to pronounce it as a word, is it?
@@RCAvhstape correct, it's an initialism.
Highest ranking individual from my town died as a wild wesel in Vietnam. One of the craziest cat and mouse games out there. They were conducting low level passes on sa2 batteries. The nva would place anti air guns on ingress and egress at angles that their radars couldnt track. Such a dangerous game.
Rest in peace captain barthelmas
Rest in peace aggressors you meant?
@Ff Tg
Innocent civilians are firing SA-2 missiles..
@Ff Tg
Utter bullshit!
@Ff Tg
I’m not in America. That’s their problem…
@Ff Tg if you think that’s how the war strategically played out, you’re misinformed, unstudious, and absolutely simplifying a very complex war to make a very invalid and stupid point. Keep in mind after the U.S. left, the North Vietnamese slaughtered upwards of 7.5 million South Vietnamese.
I’m certainly not saying it was a “good” war for the U.S. to be involved in, but to flat out say we were targeting civilians and they were simply defending themselves is a gross exaggeration and oversimplification by someone with absolutely no knowledge on the war.
I love that you chose to cover this topic. The plane, the tech, the mission... super fascinating stuff! And well produced as always!
Paul does an amazing job on every single video he releases. I would definitely give him $1 million if I had the means. Unfortunately, I am not that lucky and living paycheck to paycheck like most people.
I agree, the world needs more glorification of US imperialist forces fighting at overseas territories. Thank god they lost.
You know there's about 50'000 vids on this on here right lol jeeze
My granddad was a wild weasel and I never really understood just how cool and COMPLETELY batshit crazy these guys were until my granddad starting developing dementia. Not being able to pick his brain about this anymore is a huge regret I have.
I feel this same way about my grandad.
He was a tunnel rat and then a door gunner in Viet Nam.
Same here. My dad was a Wild Weasel. I think these guys were INSANE. They had to be Cool and Calm or they would have been weeded out in their training. We couldn't afford pilots Crapping out with guys lives on the line in a $20 million aircraft. We never took the time to pick dads brain and we regret it. He was tough that's all I know.
I’ve just forwarded the link for this video to a colleague of mine, an ex Lt Col USAF who was a EWO, the “back seater”, on F4G Wild Weasels. He can tell some interesting stories I assure you.
I met a backseater a few months ago. Cool as a cucumber. Balls of steel.
I would love to hear the Lt Col USAF interviewed by Paul.
Nice. I'm going to send this to my dad -- flew THUDs out of Korat back in '67 and has a few stories, too.
@That Micro 4/3 Guy Respect to your colleague, masses of respect.
I was only only ground crew, structural airframe maintenance on IAF Phantom-II's. B-check / D-check we could fix and renew or remanufacture anything on our Phantoms, and we did. Even a wings off refurbish for Kurnass-2000. Many of which were originaly "hand-me downs" from Vietnam.
Pls extend a thank you to your colleague and his friends, from an ex IAF maintenance technician.
The missile shown launching at time 10:33 is a AGM-88 HARM missile. The missile launch shown after that is an AGM-78 STANDARD. Yep, STANDARD is its name. There was one other missile that is rarely mentioned, and was probably not put into use. The AGM-9 Side Arm. A much smaller version of the AGM-88. I had the honor of being part of the load crew that loaded the first live fire test. It worked, there was much rejoicing... and I didnt hear anything else about it. Shortly there after I received orders to RAF Lakenheath. After arriving there we soon went to Operation Desert Shield, then Storm. Lots of stories there.
Thanks Mr Droid :-) the shirt will 'trash' any optically tracked weapon solution ;-)
Dazzle camouflage.
And leave the enemy feeling rather confused and dirty at the same time lol.
Paul's shirts were meant to keep each eye focused in a crossed formation.
Whenever I see anything about the Weasels, I think of Col. Leo Thorsness. He won the Medal of Honor on a Wild Weasel mission assisting shot-down pilots. He engaged in air-to-air combat, shooting down a MIG 17 with the Vulcan cannon of his F-105. The entire mission was epic, running out of fuel while taxiing out afterwards.
Had a book about the air war over Vietnam - one of a series, that amongst other authors featured Dale A Dye - and it was incredible to think the war began with A26 Intruders, T28 Trojans then escalated to B52s, F111s and even during FREQUENT WIND, F14 Tomcat's.
What did stick out though was the airmen that won CMHs - the guy you mentioned there, Merlyn Dethleftsen was another, Joe Jackson & not forgetting Hilliard Wilbanks of course.
And that's the tip of the iceberg so to speak - or should that be tip of the tree-tops or base of the clouds?
THOR
Those early wild weasel pilots were legendary . Cheers for the upload
The Vietnamese were a crafty, smart, dedicated foe. Of course, they had some help. But surviving the amount of firepower that the US dropped on that country was miraculous, at the least
What do you mean, “some help”? They were heavily supplied by the moscow with officers, staff, money, equipment, ammunition, and other weapons and armory stuff. The situation is the same today, but today they heavily supply their pocket terrorists in Syria, Ukraine, Moldova, Venezuela and many-many other parts of the World. You kill the moscow fellas, you stop the war all over the World.👌
@@craftyukraine USA made up a fake attack on their ships in the gulf of tonkin so they can join the war and you blame the moscow fellas?
@@Czeckie Well guess who send NVA troops disguised as VC to South Vietnam first.
“Some help” is really in underplaying the role China played, all while claiming they weren’t involved.
So united states, a whole ocean and some change away is in Vietnam for what. Because I can tell you at that same time united states' had its own issues. Still do same ol issues that yet to have been fixed
You should also cover the tech leap-frogging between anti-tank weapons and tank armour/defences.
Dude's shirt at 5:00 is electronic warfare
I absolutely love that fact that YGBSM became an unofficial motto and was on their patch. I feel like that’s the type of humor and action that would only come about in a US special operations group.
That kind of humour is hardly unique to US units - in fact, my old buddy Ian who used to be an Army medic, would often comment on how surprising it was to find out what prudes some American service members could be.
"Blood and guts? Violence? No problem! The more the better! HOOAH! But no naughty, swearing words. Okay? Can't have anyone saying that dirty "S" word."
It would get even more bewildering if they happened to see any of the cheeky pictures of bare young ladies that Ian and his buddies used to like to draw on vehicles, or stick up around the base. They'd honest to goodness *_freeze,_* right on the spot if they happened to catch a glimpse of a shiny pink naked lady's bum cheek, twinkling in the morning sun, and just start turning red - half from fury, half from embarrassment.
I won't mention any of the 'humour' that Ian and his chums devised, cooked up, and gave infernal form to, out there in the long, cold nights - it wouldn't just get me banned from a site like this... Google would have me hunted down if I repeated any of that.
Look up "Welcome to JSTARS: Morale Stops Here" patch.
My community was home to the Wild Weasels until GAFB closed and I'm friends with many former WW' pilots. These guys are amazing pilots. They can fly thuds, F4's or a Cessna 150 and make that machine do things they weren't supposed to do.
My Dad was a Wild Weasel in the Persian Gulf War. The stories are unreal.
@MichaelKingsfordGray what?
One of the only notifications I drop everything for.
Hit the like button, don't clog the comment section with sucking sounds...
Never a dull release.
@@shrugg6593 Don't clog the comment section with sneering retorts to someone giving verbal feedback so you can get off by pissing on people's manners.
@@workdevice7808 lol...
Manners? People just want to be acknowledged by the creator... It's about ego, not manners...
The SA2 had visual tracking mechanism added because SEAD was so effective tracking the radar.
I have one comment on your data being a Wild Weasel Crew Member. The F-4G did not make it to Vietnam. It's IOC eas in the early 1980s. The F-4C Wild Weasel was the bridge between the F-105G and the F-4G. F-4Cs of the 67th TFS supported Operation Linebacker I & II.
I was an Aviation Electronic Technician in the military working on EA-6B Prowlers, very familiar with electronic warfare.
Ok
You really put out some Brilliant (wink wink) content, Paul. Thank you.
Soviet engineering did indeed save Vietnam from colonization. Awesome video! Thanks!
The French colonized Vietnam. The communist rulers of North Vietnam were fighting to force those in South Vietnam who had deliberately chosen not to live under communist rule when the country was partitioned to live under communist rule. That's what you would no doubt call a war of national liberation..!..
you are improving, it's almost like I am watching BBC 2, +kudos from me! keep going!
I have huge Respect for the Soldiers in Vietnam and enormous Respect for the North Vietnamese.
Then we should start a crowd funding campaign to get you a one-way ticket to Viet Nam.
@@dalecomer5951 Why?
@@dalecomer5951 todays Nam. Of course!
My Dad is still alive at 89 after 133 missions flying F-105 as a Wild Weasel pilot. I had no idea how crazy the mission was until I watched a Discovery Channel documentary titled Suicide Missions of Vietnam. He studied hospital administration at Michigan State, but then switched to ROTC because he didn't want to be on the ground for the Korean conflict. Most people don't know that half of the F-105's were lost in Vietnam. They also don't realize that the jet was designed for a one way mission carrying a nuke. It was the few times a single person had the responsibility of a nuke since most situations demanded two people to "turn the key".
Operation Viktor Alert were the One Way Nuke Missions in the early 60's out of West Germany. Sounds like you and I may have never been born if the call would have been made on one of these missions. My father was a Wild Weasel also #273.
This was the first development of these techniques I have heard of.
Cannot wait for you to hit 1 million subs, Paul! Your channel is great fun, educational and always a pleasure to watch! Cheers!
Man, I dig your shirt groovy I could stare at it all day. I love the optical illusions, I love this channel, you take the time to explain otherwise difficult content thanks again.
This is a masterpiece. Along with the Sidewinder and Proxy fuse vids. The technological and strategic details help tell the story.
13:29 one thing that should be of note here a lot of the Iraqi Air defenses were not even using the tactics developmented 2 decades earlier in Vietnam. That is why they had a very high success rate, but put out an utterly dismal performance in Yugoslavia.
Iraqi incompetence is a major factor in every war in that region.
sorry, we didnt know it was invisible...
@@koekiejam18 haha I forgot about that legendary Serbian quote
@@samsonsoturian6013 It's ironic that those same Iraqi commanders have finally become rather competent after the Ba'athist Iraq (probably due to no longer having to listen to Saddam), unfortunately they became part of ISIS.
@@Alex-cw3rz not really. Virtually all technical training and tactics possessed by Iraqis came from either NATO or the Soviets. Even Iraqi railroads and mines require foreign engineers. In the routine defections of that country this is how a lot of our enemies got expertise, but the fact is systemic incompetence/cowardice/corruption/infighting plagued the Ba'ath, the Iraq Republic, the Kurds, the Iranians, and DAESH. One American NCO I net said said he trained Iraqi NCOs that didn't even know how to hold a weapon right.
_THE VIETNAM WAR._
Also known as: _NEVER micromanage a war from Washington, DC._
I remember seeing the F4 phantoms parked at Lakenheath airfield during the first gulf war. I was amazed at the time because they were supposed to be decommissioned some time before. All sorts of old stuff was dusted off as laser designator platforms et al.
I loved this video! Please do one for the EA-6B/EA-18G platforms!
The video is wrong is almost every technical explanation....
ua-cam.com/video/fHpsaasL5gM/v-deo.html&lc=Ugy4A5LotFF1DGD_RhN4AaABAg
I was glad for the history, but a little disappointed he didn't go into those platforms towards the end.
How cool would it be to own your own country with your own SAMs, jets, tanks, AA guns, battleships etc. would be boss
War, what is it good for. Absolutely Nothing
Great shirt Paul
It has a total different meaning when you spell it "Play it again, SAM."... 🤪😁
During the mid 2000's, while driving by Andrews AFB, the car in front of me wore the vanity plate "F4G WWI". It took a few miles to click.
Later that day, i mentioned the plate to 2 Senior USN aviators. They both had that moment of "Oh Yeah..." as well
Curious Droid is one of my favorite channels. Consistently high quality content, deftly presented, without braying every video to Like and Subscribe as if this isn't something we've all heard a gazillion times by now.
My dad's a vietnam Vet, 1st Cav '68-'70 One of the things he told me that clued you into how clever your opponent can be, was the Vietcong and NVA would come along after battles and take old M72's that the guys would throw down after use during a firefight, and pick up discarded c-ration cans, old batteries just stuff we thought was garbage and just left. They'd take the old tubes, fill them with rockets or missiles, take the cans and wire them up with old batteries so that when it rained, the water would fill up the can, ground out their wire setup, and fire. We'd see this and send in fire missions, air support, SAD missions, or ground troops to clear it out. So we'd go in and blow the place to hell wasting money and ammo on nothing but dirt and trees, and risk getting shot down or killed by the traps they'd set up knowing we would be coming.
Indeed. My dad passed before I could talk with him much about the details of what he did - and I suspect he wasn't really wanting to talk much about it... he was a draftee and avionics guy for the Army "but you're a grunt by default". He was in 68-70 if memory serves... when he got back, he told his mother he slept for three days... but I suspect that was an extended debrief.
Anyway - he warned me as a kid: "you be careful of those asian cultures. They'll laugh and goof around and say 'me so stupid' - then slit everyone's throat in their sleep. They know exactly what they are doing and don't ever think otherwise."
As a friend of mine likes to say: "I hate the term 'think outside the box.' It's just an excuse to be absurd and impractical. When you constrain yourself to a set of parameters, you can see some of the most innovative and pragmatic results."
People are clever and smart. The various militants in Afghanistan and Iraq proved themselves similarly creative in achieving their objectives (or at least not letting us go unopposed) despite the extreme disparity in means.
I could tell really quickly who was worth paying attention to and who was not by how they assessed our opponents. If they held the idea that they were just ignorant bumpkins - they hadn't really experienced much. If they respected the fact that they were up against other members of the dominant predatory species - they'd experienced some things or paid attention to those who had.
I love that raindrop damascus shirt!
I've done tree work for a former Wild Weasel pilot from the Nam era. Dude had some crazy stories. Also did tree work for one of the Electronic Warfare officers who did EM detection before the anti radiation missiles were available.
Imagine using 1960s tech to find anti air emplacements, while in a plane flying towards the general location of said emplacements.
High quality content as always.
Sadly, no.
The video is wrong is almost every technical explanation....
ua-cam.com/video/fHpsaasL5gM/v-deo.html&lc=Ugy4A5LotFF1DGD_RhN4AaABAg
As always Paul, another great video!
Are there any good documentaries on this kind of military tech? I would love to hear more about the engineering of these old 60s -> 80s military technology, it's all so fascinating that transition slowly to the modern age of computing and onwards.
Well, you're in luck. There are quite a few documentaries and even official training videos from those times up here on youtube. Here's a quick selection:
ua-cam.com/video/pyFqaaqqph0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/su44ZU7NcQU/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/cPgVsz_TnkE/v-deo.html
Happy watching! ;)
'Tacit Rainbow' would be a good follow-up to this. The AGM-136 was one of the first loitering munitions ever and it would circle the target area waiting for a radar signal to appear and then follow it in to thr target. Pretty cool program. Expensive, and overall unsuccessful. Perhaps ahead of it's time. That would make a good video.
Very good presentation. Thanks
Great summary report. I served in a related and cooperative role with the Wild Weasels when I was in the Air Force many years ago. As you indicated, it was always a cat-and-mouse scenario. Once a tactic on either side is revealed, the other takes countermeasures. Interesting challenge.
As Thud pilot Billy "Sparky" Sparks put it "It's like playing 3 dimensional Chess and cheating is Legal"
The wild weasel mission can be traced back to WW2, with the B-17G Ferret, it was used to destroy Germany radar sites. I was fortunate enough to be associated with two out of the three wild weasel wings, The 37TFW/563rd AMU George AFB, The 52cnd TFW/81stAMU Spangdahlem AB W Germany ( at the time before the Berlin wall came down)
I'm a "Spang-thang" myself.
82-84 P.O.L.
I fueled them.
.
There were Wild Weasels at Spangdahlem AB in the early 80s. Oh yes the old Fighting 52nd Tactical Fighter Wing, back when we all had to pass the physical training running and general personal capabilities tests. Basic training was just 6 weeks, though it was no campout, my flight went 8 days with no break whatsoever and were weren't treated like a bunch of pansies either.
I fueled and provided LOX for you guys.
Proud to serve you!
52nd Supply, 82-84
.
I was an EW tech on Weasels from 1990-1994(closed George AFB, followed to Nellis AFB). Loved working on the F-4G. Was very sad to see it replaced. What a great system!
SAM missile = Surface to air missile missile...
Got to make sure sure
Finally, I now know why the Wild Weasel shuttle in Star Fleet Battles is CALLED by that name. Thanks.
5:15 The look on that artwork and the motto "You Gotta Be Shitting Me" had me breaking out laughing!! 😂
I would never call the F-105 "maneuverable"...
Outrageous comment on the lead sled... Oh yes. As you were.
Yea but how many F-100 pilots can claim killing a mig with bombs.
Compared to what else the USAF had in it's arsenal at the time it was the best they had. The F-4 Phantom wasn't any better.
The USAF at the time had bombers B-52, B-58, B-47, B-57 and B-66 and the fighters of the century series so F-102, F-104 and F-106 interceptors as well as the F-101B and fighter bombers the F-100, F-101A/C (only 144 built) and F-105.
Other jets are The F-4 phantom, the F-111 which is large and even less manurable and the A-7 from 1970.
The USAF was built around nuclear bombers, tactical nuke using fighter bombers and interceptors to defend the USA from Russian bombers.
Vietnam required different aircraft which is why the USAF got a version of the A-7 and the F-15, F-16 and A-10 got some changes in the design stage from lessons learned.
@@Ushio01 I agree with you completely. As a mach 2 tactical bomber, I'd still never call the F-105 maneuverable.
Amazing how the Soviets still use this strategy, with better radar and SAM missiles 2day. The world wants the Soviet mobile SAM's 2day rather than the Patriot SAM's. This speaks louder than words... God Bless, love the channel 🙏
I dunno. 1 year later and those NATO Patriot, Iris T, NASAMS etc. Are doing pretty well in Ukraine. S400 cant seem to do much about Himars rounds?
SEAD is THE most important typo of mission in modern air force, more important than ground attack, CAS or even intercepting enemy aircraft. It is the door that opens a path to all those other types of mission when operating over enemy territory, and what happens when you dont have proper SEAD capabilities can be seen in Ukraine, where VVS struggle against theoretically inferior forces, because they are unable to remove Ukrainian anti aircraft capabilities.
I serviced IAF Phantoms in the early 90's (structural tech. technical grade-12, working as B-check & D-check) .
Many of the phantoms were urgently flown by Unkle Sam, direct from USAF in Vietnam to the IAF to make up severe losses in '73 Yom Kipur.
They were later refurbished & upgraded by IAF Maint. depo / IAI and put to good use as Wild Weasels ( in '82 pitted against the Soviets latest air defences deployed in Syria ).
Respect to the USAF, & the Phantom-II "Spook". So miss those flying sledge hammers.
Free🇵🇸!
Ironic that the latest USAF fighters are often first tested in combat by the IAF.
All the budget wasting for defense (wars), if they used in science, technology & to fight poverty today world will be different, Right.
But defense is mandatory.
I'm just said what I have thought.
I fueled those W.W. Hogs in 82-84 at Spangdahlem W. Germany. Anyone else?
52nd Supply Squadron
.
Wasn't this the primary job of the intruders and prowlers which were purpose built for ground attack? Were they called wild weasels as well? I know the Phantom had the wild weasel variant but I thought they were a lot later in the Vietnam war and the majority of missions were carried out by the A6 Intruders and EA6B Prowlers.
My brother was a F-4G Wild Weasel ground crewman in the ‘80s at George AFB
I used to serve the Wild Weasels as an enlisted member during peace time. We were stationed at George AFB just outside Los Angeles before the moved to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. I saw the "kill strikes" on F-4 aircraft that were almost as old as I am.
I worked at George's bombing range at Superior Valley at this same time.
Wild Weasels were such difficult sorties that even our best pilot Mitchell Gant was even shot down. Thankfully he survived or we'd be facing squadrons of MiG-31 "Firefox" 😛
I have a close friend who was in F-4s. He said he was shot down twice. This I firmly believe. He was a Electronics Warfare Officer. He could tell some edge of your seat stories. I have lost track of David Eichkbush. I believe he was placed in Hospice several weeks ago. I can he was a very affable personality. He and the rest of personally deserve the greatest respect and admiration of any and all great American warrior. 👍 GOD BLESS THEM ALL...
He forgot to think in Russian?
@@spotthedod wouldn't have made any difference in the Thunderchief lol
Always interesting to see history told from the losing side
Heh. Nice.
Those losers are also the most Powerful nation on Earth too. Imagine that.
And people think electronic warfare is a modern thing......
Well, less than 100 years.
You'd be surprised what they did during WWII.
The 60s were awesome.......Moon Landings, LSD, airplanes (X15) flying to space, and music, music, music.
Wasn't the X15 the 50s? It was a pretty awesome decade of development for sure either way.
Those Wild Weasels had to have modified cockpits to house their giant... gonads... it took to goad enemy AA radar to light them up and fire! Amazing courage.
Great video, excellent topic. Now do the US Navy's version please.
Wild Weasel is definitely a killer name.
Brilliant sponsors the abortion clinic in my city too. Thanks Brilliant.
For anybody curious, there are radio recordings and transcripts provided by an Electronic Warfare Officer in the Wild Weasel Wikipedia page
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Weasel ? I don't see any recordings there to play.
@@workingguy6666 click on "See also". There's a part there that says "Wikisource has several original texts related to: Audio recordings and transcripts with comments of actual Wild Weasel combat missions over Vietnam."
The recordings are on the "W" section.
I was at Korat from 8-70 to 8-71 as a structural repair tech, F105G was very good, very little repair was required. Also had F-4E, EB-66, and EC-121 it was interesting and a heavy workload.
My dad was stationed at Korat around 1970. He flew HH-43s, the search and rescue choppers. He had told us about being based at Da Nang and Korat, but until now I never knew where Korat was located. Congratulations on surviving!
"Nothing as exciting as when they start throwing telephone poles at you at mach three."
The war would have been over in a year if the president didn't handcuff the Air Force basically forcing them to bomb ditches for 3 years.
He was a real “Johnson”.
Worst pres. In my lifetime just because he ramped up the war and then micromanaged with no clue about what he was doing.
@@dalecomer5951 LBJ was the start of the decline of Western Civilization.
The F4 was my favorite fighter for the longest time. The air national guard would fly them around our valley basin for practice training twice per month. Then they stopped flying them during my Junior year of high school. Everyone was really sad to see them go. All I ever wanted was to fly one.
Phantoms phorever.
No such thing as Viet Cong ,American term they were NV soldiers
Vietnam: You cannot win a war if you are afraid of winning it
What B.S. LBJ was afraid to confront the Soviets without whose support Uncle Ho would have had nothing. He was also fearful that the Chicoms would do what they had done in Korea.
So what you are saying is invest in anti-aircraft deffencea
Man those shock waves at 1:05 were awesome
I don't see F35 as a Weasel, more likely another craft will light up the radar while the F35 stealthily follows and sends out the SAM's coordinates. Then a missile truck like a 4th gen F15 would follow on with the kill missile.
Why? The F-15 would be put in unecessary danger by getting inside of SAM range. The F-35 could drop a SDB on the radar. Done. It's off. No need to light up for anyone or use a missile.
@@ChucksSEADnDEAD Bomb truck wouldn't have to get in range with transmitted coordinates. F35 has limited magazine depth, and wouldn't have to break stealth by deploying weapons. Drones are disposable and can spoof aircraft profiles with little risk.
When I was a kid and poured over books of planes, I could never figure out two things.
What was an all weather interceptor (what, nobody flew in the rain?) and what was an anti-radiation missile (it blew up radiation?)
Lol at anti-radiation. Yep. Left ‘source’ out of the name.
“An anti-radiation missile (ARM) is a missile designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source.” Wikipedia
a all-weather interceptor(also known as a night fighter) is a fighter equipped with radar for operating in low visibility conditions like night or poor weather, the term faded out of use as almost all fighters became capable of all-weather operation
Anyone who is anti-military should consider the sacrifice of these brave young men. This crazy war took many young men who would have been great contributors to the USA. A real shame.
not sure what you mean by sacrifice. What exactly were they fighting for in your opinion?
Particularly as they lost.
Over 2,000 American fixed wing aircraft and over 5,600 helicopter were lost in Vietnam! Just to show the scale of the issue facing the USA.
Vietnam lost over three million people and millions more today are affected by Dioxin. The irony is they are now on our side against the chinese.
@@Predator42ID well they aren't really on the US side. They just also independently are against China.
@@Alex-cw3rz They are the only communist nation to do joint naval exercises with the US and now buy US components.
I've not met one Vietname who doesn't like the US now. Now are they allies in the same way as Nato or Japan, no but they are allies none the less.
@@Alex-cw3rz All recent US presidents (except Biden) have visited Vietnam. They are on friendly terms with the US now while staying independent (they don't have US bases like Japan and South Korea).
The technology and tactics developed during and after the Vietnam War largely neutralized the huge advantage the Soviets had in conventional forces and all oc Europe was finally liberated as a result.
Almost at 1M subs!
Top quality content as always. Interesting topic. Well researched and so well presented. Seriously.. one of the best channels on YT. Thanks for your hard work!
Superb presentation they should be ave worn your shirt ficked my vision up
My formative "warplane" books touched on this outfit but I never dreamt I'd hear (let alone see) such detail!
Only 3 thousand more subs to reach one million... *LETS GET CURIOUS DROID THE ONE MILLION HE DESERVES!*
a note on the gulf war sead drivers from the us were teaching the royal air force volunteer weasel units on how the ins and outs of fighting real anti air threats now the tornado 1 was the aircraft the uk was flying for this mission perfect for the job of being a strike aircraft the volunteer pilots know how to drop bombs and dogfight in war games the tornado MK 1.
That could drop a large Arsenal of pgm and dumb ordnance and the pilots were well versed in multirole of dropping bombs then getting into dog fights they were equipped with 23mm in the nose aim 7D aim9C lates for air to air it could carry a good mix of bombs and fours missiles now out side the war-games with nato these uk pilots had seen little combat were mostly green the squadron leads were had fought in the falklands at but this was whole new animal.
So the us air force asked for seasoned pilots and crews with air to air and weasel experience they had a full roster in weeks they proceeded to start cross training the uk weasel squadrons for months this continued in Saudi Arabia during desert shield finally the air campaign started the pilots the squadrons working with their us trainers and squadrons of EF-111A Raven jammers started strikes at night then day and night strikes ahead of every major bomber operation of the war with these squadrons the iraqi air defence net was blinded and left toothless in the round the clock campaign left anti air batteries and the sams burning and raidars blown and targets blown to the cost of a two dozen us strike aircraft 1 dedicated weasle f4g 6 attack helicopters and 18 uk tornados
I tried to watch this video but was quickly blinded by that shirt....
This video is filled with tons of inaccuracies...
Before I list them I rather recommend a video, if you wish to know real thing about the SA-75 Dvina (which is not the S-75...) and some SEAD.
ua-cam.com/video/uX7m-MnjsKA/v-deo.html
The video series about will be continued on my channel, Militavia - Military Aviation & Air Defense. It has not been created but the first video will be about the S-75 and S-75M continuing the story of the SA-2 family.
2:16.
No. In Vietnam was the SA-75. The 'A' letter has a VERY strong meaning. The SA-75 used 10 cm wavelength while S-75 Desna (SA-2C) and S-75M Volkhov used 6 cm. The SA-75 (SA-2A,B and F variants) never got many features what the other evolution branch did.
2:41
No. It was and S-75 Desna (SA-2C).
3:19
The min. engagement altitude of the SA-2A was 2 km not 3 km. This is rather 6000 feet and not 10000 feet.
3:49
200 P-12? I doubt...
This was the order of battle in 1972 at the peak of the NV air defense...
6:17
Or not because clouds can block the view.
6:31
MiGs never operated in the same airspace where the air defense was online because of the high risk of friendly fire.
The SA-2A,B or even the SA-2F never had IFF.
7:44
This Mach 3 myth should be die. Below 10 km altitude the max speed of the missile did not reach even M2.5...
This is time-speed and time-distance diagram of the V-755 missile of the Volkhov which was 12% stronger than V-750 missile of the Dvina. If the target was high and close (H = 10 km D = ~20 km) the angle is 30 deg or less. At long range med altitude the angle was 10 deg or less. Even this missile barely reached M2.5 at 10 km altitude following 30 km+ flight. The speed of the V-750 was M2.0-2.2.
i.imgur.com/HeG8rF3.png
9:00
You have no idea about the basic principle about how the SA-2 family works.
The system uses radio control guidance (RCG). It means the missile does not lock EVER on anything because the guidance station (the fire control radar + cabin) tracks both the target and missile.
Here you can see how it works.
ua-cam.com/video/bye1T0x6lpo/v-deo.html
How it happened the missile guidance against jamming targets? Check this.
ua-cam.com/video/uX7m-MnjsKA/v-deo.html?t=1338
The SA-2 needed the tracking radar for hit a target. You can't turn it off.
Period. Where came this idiocy...? It would be great if such ppl. or group make a video who has at least a faint idea about the topic and the system...
9:22
This was only partially true.
ua-cam.com/video/uX7m-MnjsKA/v-deo.html?t=1540
11:03
Nope, maybe missile launchers but the TOTAL LOSS of Vietnam war was only about 38 complexes.
ua-cam.com/video/uX7m-MnjsKA/v-deo.html?t=1620
11:35
Such thing never happened.
12:26
Nope, only 195 manned tactical planes was downed with the SA-75s. 10 more with Strela-2 (SA-7) + 15 B-52s.
130 BQM-34 drones were downed. The total missile launch combined was a bit above 6000, against manned planes about 5500.
There are more serious errors but I'm tried to list and explain the rest. I think even this list show the problem it self.
The video was not reviewed by ANY competent person...
Zero dislikes ☺ you just can't dislike this guy!
No 7 unfortunate souls disliked it
In fact I'm considering to cancel my sub.
If this video was so inaccurate what the other could be...?
Because the video is wrong is almost every technical explanation....
ua-cam.com/video/fHpsaasL5gM/v-deo.html&lc=Ugy4A5LotFF1DGD_RhN4AaABAg
I served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and worked on the B-52D models which was used in Thailand and there was many airplanes which left that base going to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to hit the North Vietnamese targets. I spent two years there and watched as the airplanes left with their loads and returned empty back to the base.
You make it sound as if all returned. I know AF enlisted who have or have had the same kind of issues as combat crews and others because too many aircraft and the crew members they knew did not return.
Nice video, I believe too that there is a kinematic advantage of firing downward with airspeed as apposed to firing upward with stages and boosters. Given IR detection these days that booster will put a spot light on you almost theatre wide
Always forgetting Navy/Marine pilots... they're the second largest air force in the world kids.
I like to think about the treatment those mass murderers got the few times the Vietnamese got a hold of them.
Ah yes, the inhuman cruelty of the commies towards the defenders. Nothing new.
Never forget... know who your enemy is... never quit...
12:00 NV: We ran out missiles. Peace? 😅
Yeah the US wanted out anyway it could and the NV agreed to everything the US wanted so the US could cry 'mission accomplished' then days after the US complete withdrawal boom fighting back on with NV winning in just two more years.
"HARM" has got to be the most badass acronym ever devised.