Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockhe...1_Warning_Star

The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star was a United States Navy and United States Air
Force Airborne early warning and control radar surveillance aircraft. A military
version of the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation, it was designed to serve as
an airborne early warning system to supplement the Distant Early Warning Line,
using two large radomes, a vertical dome above and a horizontal one below the
fuselage. EC-121s were also used for intelligence gathering (SIGINT).

It was introduced in 1954 and retired from service in 1978, although a single
specially modified EW aircraft remained in service with the U.S. Navy until
1982. The U.S. Navy versions when initially procured were designated WV-1
(PO-1W), WV-2, and WV-3. Warning Stars of the U.S. Air Force served during the
Vietnam War as both electronic sensor monitors and as a forerunner to the Boeing
E-3 Sentry AWACS. U.S. Air Force aircrews adopted the civil nickname, "Connie"
(diminutive of Constellation) as reference, while naval aircrews used the term
"Willie Victor" based on a slang version of the NATO phonetic alphabet and the
Navy's pre-1962 "WV-" designations for the aircraft type.

Since 1943 the Lockheed Constellation had been in USAAF service as the C-69. The
use of the Constellation by the U.S. Navy for patrol and airborne early warning
duties was first investigated in 1949, when the Navy acquired two Lockheed L-749
Constellations. First flown on 9 June 1949, the PO-1W carried large, long-range
radars in massive radomes above and below the fuselage. As the radomes produced
considerable more side area, the vertical stabilizers of the PO-1W had to be
enlarged. After the PO-1W, which was redesignated WV-1 in 1952, had proved that
it was possible to operate large radars on aircraft, the U.S. Navy ordered the
WV-2 based on the L-1049 Super Constellation. The WV-1s were later transferred
to the Federal Aviation Agency in 1958–1959.

The WV-2/EC-121D was initially fitted with a dorsal AN/APS-45 height finder
radar and a ventral AN/APS-20 air search radar. These radars were later upgraded
to AN/APS-103 and AN/APS-95 radars, although not simultaneously. The crew
commonly numbered 18, six officers (two pilots, two navigators, two weapons
controllers) and 12 enlisted personnel (two flight engineers, one radio
operator, two crew chiefs, five radar operators, two radar technicians) However,
when North Korea shot down a Navy EC-121 in 1969, a crew of 31 was on board.


Role
Airborne early warning and control aircraft

Manufacturer
Lockheed

First flight
9 June 1949

Introduction
1954

Retired
1982 (USN)

Primary users
United States Navy
United States Air Force

Produced
1953–1958

Number built
232

Developed from
L-749 Constellation
L-1049 Super Constellation
C-121 Constellation

WV-2s, later redesignated as EC-121s in 1962, served from 1956 to 1965 in two
"barrier" forces, one off each coast of the North American continent. These
barrier forces consisted of five surface picket stations each manned by radar
destroyer escorts and an air wing of WV-2s/EC-121s that patrolled the picket
lines at 1,000-4,000 m (3,000-12,000 ft) altitude in six- to 20-hour missions.
Their objective was to extend early warning coverage against surprise Soviet
bomber and missile attack as an extension of the DEW Line.

EC-121s were used extensively in Southeast Asia between 16 April 1965, and 1
June 1974, particularly in support of Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation
Linebacker/Linebacker II to provide radar early warning and limited airborne
control of USAF fighter forces engaging MiG interceptors. Flying orbits over the
Gulf of Tonkin and later over Laos, they were the forerunners of Airborne Early
Warning and Control aircraft. The U.S. Navy used a variant,the NC-121 in their
Blue Eagle unit from 1965–1972. The Blue Eagles were radar jamming and radio
broadcast airplanes. The Blue Eagles were based in NAS Patuxent River and were
part of oceanographic squadron VXN-8.

Specifications (WV-2/EC-121D)

General characteristics
Crew: typically six flight crew, 11-25 radar crew
Length: 116 ft 2 in (35.40 m)
Wingspan: 126 ft 2 in (38.45 m)
Height: 24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)
Wing area: 1,650 ft² (153.27 m²)
Empty weight: 69,210 lb (31,387 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 143,000 lb (65,000 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-3350-34 Turbo Compound 18-cylinder supercharged radial
engines, 3,400 hp (2,536 kW) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 299 mph (260 kn, 481 km/h)
Cruise speed: 255 mph (222 kn, 410 km/h)
Range: 4,250 mi (3,700 nmi, 6,843 km)
Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,620 m)
Rate of climb: 960 ft/min (4.87 m/s)





*