A highly precise doppler-inertial system handled the navigation. Due to the sensitive onboard equipment, the 154 was also to be fitted with a destruct system on operational missions. In every aspect, it pushed the state of the art in drone technology.
It was not surprising that the 154 program was soon behind schedule.
The major problem was the guidance system, which was supposed to be accurate to 5 miles per 1,000 miles flown. The system had five different operating modes. Even if it suffered a complete failure, the drone could still automatically fly to a recovery zone. It was soon clear that everyone had been overly optimistic. The project was also overmanaged. Unlike the streamlined Big Safari management, as many as two hundred people attended the monthly progress meetings.[291]
The first 154s were delivered in early 1968. A total of twenty-eight Model 154 drones was produced. This consisted of one static test vehicle (STV), two captive test vehicles (CTV), five flight test vehicles (FTV), and twenty production vehicles, numbered P-l through P-20.
The initial tests included both captive flights aboard the DC-130 launch aircraft and tests of separation characteristics and recovery parachute operations. The first powered flight was made on September 10, 1968, at Holloman Air Force Base. The early free flights were restricted to the White Sands Missile Range and tested aerodynamics, performance, and stability.
Starting in 1969, testing picked up. A total of forty-two free flights were made, including long-range flights from White Sands to Utah and back again. Between April and July, four Model 154 drones were lost due to control problems and recovery accidents.[292]
To this point, the Model 154 Firefly, like the 147 drones, was a Black project. That changed on August 4, 1969.
154P-4 was on a long-range test flight when a warning light came on at the Holloman control center. A control surface actuator had failed, and the drone was seconds from going out of control. Ground control triggered the parachute recovery to save the drone, but the troubles of 154P-4 were only starting. It was descending toward the Los Alamos complex, during the lunch hour. Thousands of people saw it coming down under a 100-foot- diameter parachute. Suddenly, there were bright flashes as doors on its underside were blown off, and the bags used to cushion the landing impact inflated.
The drone missed a three-story building and landed on a road just inside the complex. A noontime jogger was starting his fourth lap when 154P-4 came down in front of him. The tip of the right wing slid under the guard-rail at the edge of the road.
The 154P-4 was undamaged, but there was still worse to come. Although the landing site itself was secure, only a few feet away was the fence marking the boundary with public land. Just across a narrow canyon was a residential area, and word quickly spread of what had happened. A few Los Alamos employees realized the strange airplane was probably classified, and hurriedly covered it with tarps. But before 154P-4 could be hidden, the press arrived and were able to photograph it from the perimeter fence. By the time an air force-Ryan recovery crew arrived an hour after landing, the fence was lined with reporters and television crews. Others had climbed trees for a better look. The Model 154 Firefly had made a very public debut.
Two photos of 154P-4 were published in the
The air force released a cover story that the Firefly was simply a 'relatively high altitude test of an Air Force target drone' (the story originally developed for the 'Q-2D' test flights in 1960). No one was fooled; it was clear the Firefly was a secret project. As the
The failure was traced to use of low-temperature solder. When it got hot, the solder softened, the wire pulled free, and the secret was out.
Following the accident, the 154 was grounded for several weeks while an investigation was conducted. When flights resumed, they were restricted to the White Sands area. A flight by P-5 in September was successful, and the range restrictions were n'rteci. During subsequent '154 flights CH-3 helicopter was placed on alert at Holloman Air Force Base. Should the 154 land outside the recovery zone, the crew would fly out and secure the drone before it could be further compromised. Two long-range flights were made by P-4 without problems. Another flight on November 21, 1969, almost resulted in more publicity.
The ill-fortuned P-4 was flying over the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona when there was a circuit failure. The 154 went into an automatic recovery. The DC-130 crew saw a group of people around the drone. The plane buzzed them to warn them off. When the recovery crew arrived, they were pleased to discover the 154 had been secured by the tribal police. One of the people who found it was an ex-air force sergeant who realized the drone was a secret aircraft. He called the tribal police, saw that a perimeter guard was set up, gathered up the parachute, and took charge in a very professional manner.
Three long-range navigation flights were conducted in early 1970, followed by a final series of eight tests at Edwards Air Force Base between August and December 1971. These flights reached altitudes of 81,000 feet.
The sixth and seventh flights also involved simulated Soviet Fan Song B and E radars at the navy's China Lake facility. These were the radars used by the SA-2. It was found that the 154 was nearly impossible to detect. The drone's small radar cross section alone was enough to protect it. By December 1971, the problems with the 154 were finally solved. The drone program had achieved a capability rivaling that of the U-2.[296]
But now it had no place to go.
The Model 154 had been designed for overflights of China. This required a low radar return to prevent detection, a very high altitude to avoid interception, and a precise navigation system to cover the target. With President Nixon's trip to China, this possibility ended. There was no interest in using the 154s over North Vietnam because of the success of the 147SC low-altitude drones. There were suggestions that the 154 be used over Cuba during the spring of 1972. Following the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, use of the 154 was again proposed. Once more, it was turned down. The drones were placed in storage, then scrapped.[297]
Although the 154 had its share of problems, these did not cause its down-fall. The Firefly had been overtaken by events. Starting in 1969, the high-altitude drone mission had started to fade. The 147T program was cut short, while the number of 147H missions in 1970-71 was reduced to a mere h a n d f u l. Nixon's halting of Chinese overflights ended a mission that was already coming to a close. Without its primary mission of Chinese overflights, however, the Model 154 Firefly was left an orphan. It was not needed for flights over North Vietnam, while the other possible targets were covered by SR-71 overflights. Both the A-12 and the 147 drones had to wait for an opportunity to show what they could do. When given that chance, these Dark Eagles excelled. The Model 154 was never given that chance.
These circumstances also affected another Black drone.
CHAPTER 6
The Last Blackbird
The D-21 Tagboard
Rid plans of doubts and uncertainties.
