the SA-2 SAM. J-14 came back with photos of a SAM being fired at it. The SAM missed, and J-14 made it home.
(The last of the 147Ns were used as decoys for the 147Js.) J-4, the prototype drone, was sent to Bien Hoa and flew five successful missions over three months.
The 147Js also showed an improvement in recovery. There had always been some damage due to ground impact, so a midair recovery system was used for the 147J (as well as later drones). A helicopter grabbed a small parachute with cables rigged between two poles. Once it was secure, the main parachute was released, and the helicopter's winch pulled up the drone.[254]
The 147Js, along with the high-altitude 147Gs, were used in support of attacks on North Vietnam's supply of petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL).
By the end of July 1966, 70 percent of North Vietnam's known bulk storage of POL had been destroyed. The effort was frustrated, however. Drone photos showed the North Vietnamese were storing oil drums along the streets of villages, which they knew the United States would not bomb.[255]
In all, 105 missions were launched in 1966 over North Vietnam and China. This consisted of 147Gs, which made up the bulk of the flights, the 147J drones, the 147E and 147F ELINT missions, and the 147N and NX decoys.[256]
By early 1967, the 147J missions had shown the value of low-level coverage. There were concerns the supply of 147Js could run out before a specially designed low-altitude drone could be ready. As a short-term solution, additional 147Gs were converted to the J configuration. Ryan was also requested to build an interim low-altitude, day photo reconnaissance drone, based on a new version of the original 147A. This was the 147NP. It had a stretched 28-foot fuselage, a 15-foot Firebee wing, and the original low-powered engine.
Before the 147NP was ready, a new requirement emerged. Much of the supplies the North Vietnamese were sending south were moved at night.
Four of the 147NP drones were diverted from the production line and modified as night reconnaissance drones. These were fitted with a two-camera package sequenced with a flashing white light mounted in the drone's belly.
The planned altitude and ground speed had to be programmed into the strobe. For an altitude of 1,200 feet, the light would flash at the rate of once per second. The drone itself could not be seen, but the flash was very visible. If the drone was in clouds, the whole sky would be lit up. The new system was designated the 147NRE (night reconnaissance-electronic).
Two of the drones were sent to Point Mugu for testing. The results were so encouraging that the air force decided to send all four NRE drones to Vietnam. Supplies were very short — there was literally only one box of the special film used by the camera.
NRE-1 was flown on May 25, 1967. The launch was successful, but the drone did not return. Despite the failure, the NRE had beaten the NP into action. The first 147NP day reconnaissance drone was flown a week later, in early June. Unlike the black-painted NREs, the NPs had a camouflage finish.
NRE-2 was flown in the early morning hours of June 5, 1967. It survived its trip north and headed to the recovery zone. As the recovery sequence began, the main parachute separated, and the drone fell toward the jungle north of Da Nang. The small midair recovery parachute caught the tops of the trees and the drone landed intact.
Ed Christian, a Ryan camera specialist, volunteered to go after it. Armed only with an M16, a pistol, an axe, and a safe-conduct pass, Christian was lowered into the jungle. A Viet Cong patrol was also after the drone. Christian chopped open the fiberglass cover and removed the film from the two cameras. These were sent up a cable to the waiting CH-3 helicopter. He then destroyed the cameras with the M16 and tried to punch holes in the fuel tank so he could set the drone on fire, if necessary. By this time the helicopter was low on fuel and it headed off, leaving Christian in the jungle. Two marine gunships soon arrived and started strafing the Viet Cong.
A second helicopter arrived to try to recover the drone. Christian attached the cable, but as the drone was lifted, the fuel poured out, and he was sprayed with it. Another five minutes passed before the first helicopter returned and lifted him out of the jungle, even as the Viet Cong neared.
The photos from NRE-2's mission showed the drone had covered the target, but subsequent flights indicated the 147NRE's navigation system lacked sufficient accuracy; the field of view of the strobe was so small the drone would have to fly directly over the target. There was, however, a great deal of bonus intelligence picked up by flying the 147NREs almost at random. There was also harassment value due to the brilliant strobe light. It was decided to build a specialized drone for night reconnaissance.
In all, seven 147NRE missions were flown between May and September 1967, while the 147NP drones flew nineteen missions between June and September. As it turned out, the supply of 147Js proved adequate.
The 147NP was followed by another low-altitude drone, the 147NQ. It was equipped with a higher-resolution camera than the NX. The main difference between the 147NQs and earlier drones was the control system.
Rather than being controlled by a flight programmer, it was hand flown by a crewman aboard the DC-130. Its primary target was shipping in Haiphong Harbor. Missions were flown nearly every day between May and December 1968, when the last one was lost.[257]
While the low-altitude 147Js, NREs, and NPs were making an increasing share of the drone missions over North Vietnam, the high-altitude 147Gs continued operations. By March 1967, the third-generation, high-altitude 147H drone was ready to begin operations. It used the same engine as the 147G, but with a highly modified airframe. The wings were stretched from the 27 feet of the 147B-G to 32 feet, and fitted with internal fuel tanks to increase its range. The longer wings, plus a lighter airframe, meant the 147H could reach altitudes of over 65,000 feet. The 147H was also equipped with a new Hycon camera that could photograph an area 780 nautical miles long and 22 miles wide, with a better resolution than the earlier drones.
With the growth of both Chinese and North Vietnamese air defenses, the 147Gs were suffering an increased loss rate over the 147Bs. The radar-absorbing blankets and the 147N and NX decoys were not enough. Accordingly, the 147H was also fitted with several different types of countermeasures. These included 'Rivet Bouncer,' which jammed the SA-2's guidance radar; a coating in the intake to reduce its radar reflection; systems that would trigger evasive maneuvers if the 147H was illuminated by either MiG or SAM tracking radars; and an improved contrail suppression system.
The 147H was one of the most difficult of the drones to develop, and it took nearly two years before it was ready. With its higher altitude, longer range, and countermeasures equipment, the 147H was the 'great white hope' of the drone program.[258]
The first 147H mission was flown in March 1967. The 147Hs and Gs continued to operate side by side until the final 147G flight in August. In some cases, a DC-130 would carry one G and one H under its wings.[259]
The start of 147H operations in the spring of 1967 coincided with an increase in the number and intensity of U.S. airstrikes on North Vietnam.
The first targets hit were power plants in the Hanoi-Haiphong area. By mid-June, 85 percent of North Vietnam's electrical capacity had been destroyed. In late July, attacks were approved on more targets within Hanoi and Haiphong. Starting on September 4, navy planes began cutting rail, road, and canal links to isolate Haiphong. In the end, the 1967 bombing effort proved futile. The North Vietnamese put out 'peace feelers,' and President Johnson ordered a bombing halt of targets in central Hanoi. The pattern reverted to that of 1965-66—a greatly reduced scale with frequent interruptions.
On January 31, 1968, the Viet Cong launched attacks in cities throughout South Vietnam — the Tet Offensive had begun. At home, protest rallies grew and became both more violent and more pro-North Vietnam. On March 31, President Johnson halted all bombing north of the nineteenth parallel. Peace talks opened in Paris on May 13, and on November 1, Johnson ordered a halt to all bombing of North Vietnam.[260]
The 147Hs were also continuing overflights of Communist China, now engulfed by the madness of Mao Tse- tung's 'Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution.'[261] On April 30, 1967, the shooting down of a drone over south China was announced.[262] Another
