I took this picture of a B-57 at Tan Son Nhut the end of June 1966 at a stop over on the way to Thailand.
Vietnam War[edit]
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Patricia Lynn RB-57E at Da Nang, January 1964
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Tropic Moon III B-57G with
FLIR/LLLTVradar mounted in the nose of the aircraft.
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Det 1 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing Tan Son Nhut Air Base South Vietnam with RB-57E 55-4264, early 1968
Patricia Lynn Project[edit]
Although intended as a bomber and never before deployed by the USAF to a combat zone, the first B-57s to be deployed to South Vietnam were not operated in an offensive role. The need for additional reconnaissance assets, especially those capable of operating at night, led to the deployment of two RB-57E aircraft on 15 April 1963. The USAF had awarded General Dynamics a contract to modify two B-57E Canberras (55-4243, 55–4245) as all-weather high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft. Under project
Patricia Lynn these aircraft provided infrared coverage using their Reconofax VI cameras.
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General Dynamics was chosen to modify the B-57E as it had extensive experience modifying Canberras with the RB-57D and RB-57F projects and turning the B-57 into a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The forward nose section of the B-57Es were modified to house a KA-1 36-inch forward oblique camera and a low panoramic KA-56 camera used on the Lockheed U-2. Mounted inside the specially configured bomb bay door was a KA-1 vertical camera, a K-477 split vertical day-night camera, an infrared scanner, and a KA-1 left oblique camera. The modified aircraft were redesignated RB-57E.
The 2nd Air Division was desperate for tactical intelligence and on arrival the pilots that ferried in the RB-57Es were immediately assigned to the Division as combat crews and briefed on missions by Divisional intelligence officers on the reconnaissance flights they would make.
The first mission was flown on 7 May 1963 by the highly classified Patricia Lynn squadron (Detachment 1,
33d Tactical Group, later 6250th Combat Support Group, later
460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing) operating from Tan Son Nhut AB. The Detachment flew nighttime reconnaissance missions to identify
Viet Cong (VC) base camps, small arms factories, and storage and training areas. The sorties yielded results that heretofore only had been wished for. The nighttime imagery showed VC training and base camps; small, hidden factories and storage dumps that RF-101 Voodoo crews had flown over during the day and had been unable to locate from the air. The existing RF-101s in 1963 could only photograph a few kilometers (they had to fly very low) per flight with their cameras. The RB-57Es could image the whole border with
Cambodia in 2 1/2 flights at 16,000 to 17,000 feet with superior results.
From then on, Patricia Lynn crews flew both night and day missions over South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and areas of North Vietnam until 1971, being some of the last USAF tactical aircraft to be withdrawn from the country. The RB-57Es carried the call-sign "Moonglow". Some missions were flown at low-level over single targets, others consisted of 4–6 specific targets. At night RB-57Es flew the canals and rivers in the
Mekong Delta and southern part of South Vietnam. The sampans were easy to spot with the "real time" IR if the crew could keep over the canal which was difficult in the darkness.
The United States began
Operation Steel Tiger over the Laos Panhandle and the DMZ on 3 April 1965, to locate and destroy enemy forces and materiel being moved southward at night into South Vietnam, and to fly bomb damage assessment reconnaissance runs over targets attacked in the secret war the United States fought there. These flights teamed with B-57B bombers operating out of Bien Hoa Air Base and a
C-130 Hercules flare ship. Three more aircraft were subsequently modified in 1964/65 bringing the number of aircraft to five.
Two RB-57Es were lost in combat operations. The first (S/N 55-4243) was lost as a result of a fuselage fire caused by small arms while on a low level reconnaissance mission in August 1965. The crew ejected safely when near Tan Son Nhut Air Base. The second aircraft (S/N 55-4264) was lost on 15 October 1968, after an engine fire started by ground fire forced the crew to eject.
A sixth Patricia Lynn aircraft (55–4257) joined the team in 1968, as a replacement for the combat losses. This aircraft had a
Terrain-following radar designed to allow the aircraft to fly at a constant altitude, which would, in theory, produce better reconnaissance photos. Unfortunately, the aircraft flew so low (500–1000 feet) that the infrared film was used up before the entire assessment area could be photographed.
A 1968 update, under the Compass Eagle program, gave the back-seater a video display to monitor the IR scanner system. This allowed the crew to call in strikes on targets in real time, instead of having to return to base to get imagery developed, by which time the enemy would have likely moved on.
There were frequent changes and updating of the equipment, including the installation of 12-inch focal length KA-82 and 24-inch focal length KA-83 cameras. The infrared equipment was useful in spotting VC river traffic at night along the Mekong Delta southeast of Saigon.
In 1969/70, Patricia Lynn missions were flown into Laos and into Cambodia including
Operation Barrel Roll strikes in 1969. The Patricia Lynn operation was terminated in mid-1971 with the inactivation of the 460th TRW and the four surviving aircraft returned to the United States.
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Known RB-57E Patricia Lynn aircraft were:
- Martin B-57E-MA 55-4243 Modified to RB-57E in 1963. Lost in combat with Detachment 1, 6250th Combat Support Group, when hit by ground fire 5 August 1965 and caught fire while on return to base.
- Martin B-57E-MA 55-4245. Modified to RB-57E in 1963. Returned to CONUS June 1971. Converted to WB-57E. Retired to MASDC as BM0069 15 June 1972.
- Martin B-57E-MA 55-4237. Modified to RB-57E in 1964. Returned to CONUS June 1971. Converted to WB-57E. Retired to MASDC as BM0070 28 June 1972.
- Martin B-57E-MA 55-4249. Modified to RB-57E in 1964. Returned to CONUS June 1971. Converted to WB-57E. Retired to MASDC as BM0068 15 June 1972.
- Martin B-57E-MA 55-4264. Modified to RB-57E in 1965. Lost in combat with Detachment 1, 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 25 October 1968 after being hit by ground fire 3 mi SW of Truc Giang, South Vietnam. Both crew ejected safely and were rescued.
- Martin B-57E-MA 55-4257. Modified to RB-57E in 1968. Equipped with terrain-following radar. Converted to EB-57E in 1971 and transferred to ADC 4677th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron, Hill AFB, Utah. Retired to MASDC in 1979.
Later in August 1965, a single RB-57F would be deployed to
Udorn, RTAB in an attempt to gather information about North Vietnamese
SAM sites, first under
project Greek God and then under
project Mad King. In December another RB-57F would be deployed for this purpose, under
project Sky Wave. Neither project garnered useful results and they were terminated in October 1965 and February 1966 respectively.
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