The Wild Weasels - When Electronic Warfare Became Real
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2021
- brilliant.org/CuriousDroid
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/CuriousDroid
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- "
“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.
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 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
"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
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
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.
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.
Those early wild weasel pilots were legendary . Cheers for the upload
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.
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.
I was an Aviation Electronic Technician in the military working on EA-6B Prowlers, very familiar with electronic warfare.
Ok
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.
You should also cover the tech leap-frogging between anti-tank weapons and tank armour/defences.
My Dad was a Wild Weasel in the Persian Gulf War. The stories are unreal.
@MichaelKingsfordGray what?
This is a masterpiece. Along with the Sidewinder and Proxy fuse vids. The technological and strategic details help tell the story.
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...
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!
Cannot wait for you to hit 1 million subs, Paul! Your channel is great fun, educational and always a pleasure to watch! Cheers!
The SA2 had visual tracking mechanism added because SEAD was so effective tracking the radar.
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.
Dude's shirt at 5:00 is electronic warfare
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.
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!
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.
you are improving, it's almost like I am watching BBC 2, +kudos from me! keep going!
'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.
5:15 The look on that artwork and the motto "You Gotta Be Shitting Me" had me breaking out laughing!! 😂
Once again a great video :)
Thanks for covering some more F-4 Phantom stuff!
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"
Amazing little documentary on a very relevant topic. Thank you SO MUCH.
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
As always Paul, another great video!
Nicely done!...short yet comprehensive! Many thanks!
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 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.
Your channel is by far my favorite sir. So well made. Thank you for your hard work. I 'm always looking forward to watching your next video.
The video is wrong is almost every technical explanation....
czcams.com/video/fHpsaasL5gM/video.html&lc=Ugy4A5LotFF1DGD_RhN4AaABAg
My formative "warplane" books touched on this outfit but I never dreamt I'd hear (let alone see) such detail!
Great stuff - as always!
One of the most interesting and informative videos on this channel ever 👍💯
High quality content as always.
Sadly, no.
The video is wrong is almost every technical explanation....
czcams.com/video/fHpsaasL5gM/video.html&lc=Ugy4A5LotFF1DGD_RhN4AaABAg
Thank you for continuing to tell this incredible story!
The video is wrong is almost every technical explanation....
czcams.com/video/fHpsaasL5gM/video.html&lc=Ugy4A5LotFF1DGD_RhN4AaABAg
Fantastic video, the topics you present are always really interesting.
A wonderful summary of hte world of "Wild Weasels" Nice video and explanations. Thank you
Man those shock waves at 1:05 were awesome
I loved this video! Please do one for the EA-6B/EA-18G platforms!
The video is wrong is almost every technical explanation....
czcams.com/video/fHpsaasL5gM/video.html&lc=Ugy4A5LotFF1DGD_RhN4AaABAg
I was glad for the history, but a little disappointed he didn't go into those platforms towards the end.
Almost 1M SUBS!!!
Love your narration and video content.
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
.
Congrats to a Million Subrscribers! You really deserve this.
Another great video mate keep up the good work
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.
Paul’s drip remains unmatched. I need to meet his shirt guy. Another great video. Thank you!
Love this narrator. Clear and clean at 1.5 playback speed. Subscribed.
Some great footage at the end of the ARM missile trying to steer towards the hand hand radar stimulator!
Very nice video! Respect to those pilots and back seaters who flew into danger to draw enemy fire on themselves! And a very nicely horrible shirt, it looks like some kind of disruptive camouflage, I like it!
*Thank you for this wonderful video!*
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
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.
Nicely done! Thank You
Finally, I now know why the Wild Weasel shuttle in Star Fleet Battles is CALLED by that name. Thanks.
Another great video Paul keep them coming 👍
The video is wrong is almost every technical explanation....
czcams.com/video/fHpsaasL5gM/video.html&lc=Ugy4A5LotFF1DGD_RhN4AaABAg
Fascinating dive into the subject, and YGBSM is just bloody perfect. 😂
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:
czcams.com/video/pyFqaaqqph0/video.html
czcams.com/video/su44ZU7NcQU/video.html
czcams.com/video/cPgVsz_TnkE/video.html
Happy watching! ;)
You really put out some Brilliant (wink wink) content, Paul. Thank you.
Love your vids Paul!!
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
God I love your work, just so good!
Proud member of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, Korat RTAFB, attached to the 388th Combat Support Group, and eventually the 388th Avionics Maintenance Squadron. I worked the Doppler system on the 6010th Wild Weasel F-105F/G models, 1971-72. WE lost a lot of good planes and men flying them, but they kept flying. My only fighter I ever worked. Worked C-130's, HH-53's in England, 67th Aerospace Recum and Recovery Squadron, and C-5A's with the 436th Airlift Wing, 436th Avionics Maintenance Squadron. The Thud was probably the most beautiful fighter to me.
Amazing video buddy :3 keep it up
"HARM" has got to be the most badass acronym ever devised.
I love Curious Droid!!
Great piece CD
Very good presentation. Thanks
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.
Great video as always. 👍
Great video, excellent topic. Now do the US Navy's version please.
Thank you, sir!!
Great video and respect
Only 3 thousand more subs to reach one million... *LETS GET CURIOUS DROID THE ONE MILLION HE DESERVES!*
Got to love the Wild Weasels 👍 ;-)
Almost a million subs, Paul!!
Almost 1 million subscribers Paul!
Fascinating!
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.
Wonderful video
The level of technology and development to have this ability in the late 60s is incredible.
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!
War, what is it good for. Absolutely Nothing
Great shirt Paul
awesome video !!
Excellent content.
Brilliant video... :-)
Great content
Best thing about Curious Droid channel :
Quality over quantity
Good stuff
Great video 👍
I've never been someone who is into patches, but I need that wild weasel patch
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.
YAY! I love Curious Droid! So very interesting all the time, every video.