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When the Army pushed the Air Force to procure dedicated close air support aircraft during the Vietnam War, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara (who was infamous for his adherence to joint air-craft policies) directed the adoption of the Navy A-7. This subsonic jet aircraft proved to be inexpensive and effective (following engine up-grades). The Secretary of the Navy selected Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) as the prime contractor for the production of the A-7 Corsair II, a new carrier-based light attack aircraft slated to replace the A-4. Twenty of the aircraft were based at Luke AFB, where the US 21st Fighter Squadron trained their Taiwanese counterparts.
GUNSHIP III US NAVY UPGRADE
It was part of Taiwan’s effort to upgrade its aging self-defense aircraft and bolstered the post-Cold War US defense industry. This Foreign Military Sales pro-gram was dubbed PEACE FENGHUANG (Phoenix). The governments of Taiwan and the US signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance to purchase 120 Block 20 F-16A and 30 F-16B aircraft. Along with those, it developed the sup-porting processes, organizations, and facilities that were the predecessors for the modern USAF acquisition community. The US Army Air Service went from fewer than 200 total aircraft to over 8,000. Foremost was in the use of aviation, which had grown from little more than a novelty into a viable military force. While the US had entered the war in April 1917, two and a half years after it started in Europe, the conflict had many impacts on the American military. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the First World War came to an end with Germany’s surrender. In less than 3 months, Big Safari and Convair converted a C-135 for the mission. His thanks referred to the Speed Light-Bravo flight of the JKC- 135A equipped to monitor the Soviet detonation of the largest nuclear weapon ever, the 100 megaton “Tsar Bomba” on 30 October 1961. This is believed to be the first and only such written presidential acknowledgement of a Big Safari program/mission. Kennedy wrote a memo to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara extending his appreciation for “the expeditious preparation of the complex technical equipment and the bold execution” of Big Safari’s Operation Speed Light. The program was managed by a Program Office at Wright-Patt. Its high cost ($850M+), lack of a clear and distinct military mission, and an apathetic (at best) presidential administration led to its cancellation 4 years later without a single vehicle completed.
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In its various permutations, it could serve as a boost-glide vehicle in a suborbital trajectory, a space access vehicle like a miniature space shuttle, a military orbital bomber, a satellite inspection platform, or a hypersonic R&D vehicle. This was to be a piloted, winged glider boosted to space on top of a Titan rocket.
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The Air Force chose a team of Boeing and Vought as the prime con-tractor for Weapon Systems 464L, aka Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soaring). In 1968, Gun-ship III first replaced the AC-47s with the AC-119G, then the AC-119K upgraded with add-on jet engines and additional cannon for use against trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The program started under AFLCMC’s predecessor the Aeronautical Systems Division at WPAFB with Gunship I, the famous AC-47 “Spooky,” followed by Gunship II, the AC-130 that was the predecessor for the modern fleet of gunships. It was the product of Project Gunship III, the third iteration propeller-driven cargo aircraft equipped with cannons and machine guns as a ground support/attack platform. Tactical Air Command received its first Fairchild AC-119K “Stinger” gun-ship. In this edition of Heritage Hangar, you'll learn about old and new airplanes and tidbits of what happened this week many years ago. By Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office