Bombs for B-52s at U-Tapao Thailand, Southeast Asia War EC-121R National Archives NARA Airailimages скачать в хорошем качестве

Bombs for B-52s at U-Tapao Thailand, Southeast Asia War EC-121R National Archives NARA Airailimages

Scenes from February 1969 capture B-52s, a BatCat EC-121R, and the arrival of bombs for use by the Stratofortresses at U-Tapao Air Base, Thailand. The bombs are offloaded from freighters onto a DeLong Pier, a prefabricated loading and unloading surface named for its designer. That camouflaged EC-121R at U-Tapao matches the timing when the Batcat variants of the C-121, normally based at Korat, Thailand, came to U-Tapao while the Korat runway underwent repairs. They belonged to the 553rd Reconnaissance Wing. The Batcat modifications of the C-121 carried equipment for electronic countermeasures (ECM) activity. Specifically, the Batcat aircraft used sensors to detect enemy traffic on the Ho Chi Minh Trail around the clock. The air base at U-Tapao was built by the United States between October 1965 and June 1966. B-52 Stratofortresses used U-Tapao's approximately 11,000-foot runway between 1967 and 1972. This brought the bombers closer to their targets in Vietnam than the B-52s had been when flying from Okinawa on early missions. The base also hosted U.S. Air Force KC-135 tankers during the war. As modified for Southeast Asia, B-52s were able to carry 108 bombs weighing 60,000 pounds. To keep pressure on the enemy, a steady stream of bombs had to be delivered to the base at U-Tapao, hence the massive dock for offloading. I'm Fred Johnsen for the Airailimages Channel. Check out the channel for more historic footage from the war in Southeast Asia.