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[68], Specialized KC-135Q tankers were required to refuel the SR-71. YF-12A # 60-6934. The Foxhound climbed at 65,676 feet where the crew. Initially, a bomber variant of the A-12 was requested by Curtis LeMay, before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance. Peak speeds during this flight were likely closer to the declassified top speed of over Mach3.2. Thus, there are doubts that the US has abandoned the concept of spy planes to complement reconnaissance satellites. This close-up, head-on view of NASA's SR-71A Blackbird in flight shows the aircraft with an experimental test fixture mounted on the back of the airplane. The high temperatures generated in flight required special design and operating techniques. US Air Force supersonic aircraft, 19641998, "SR-71" redirects here. The system's digital computer ephemeris contained data on a list of stars used for celestial navigation: the list first included 56 stars and was later expanded to 61. The project, named Archangel, was led by Kelly Johnson, head of Lockheed's Skunk Works unit in Burbank, California. [8], Operational highlights for the entire Blackbird family (YF-12, A-12, and SR-71) as of about 1990 included:[104]. SR-71 dual-seat reconnaissance aircraft operated by U.S. Air Force. [3] Show more Show more 7:16 Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. The SR-71 Blackbird set speed and altitude records that stand to this day. "Department of Defense Authorization for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1994 and The Future Years.". The media transcript given to the press at the time still had the earlier RS-71 designation in places, creating the story that the president had misread the aircraft's designation. [49], At the front of each inlet, a pointed, movable inlet cone called a "spike" was locked in its full forward position on the ground and during subsonic flight. Also, with the allocation requiring yearly reaffirmation by Congress, long-term planning for the SR-71 was difficult. [N 4] The challenges posed led Lockheed to develop new fabrication methods, which have since been used in the manufacture of other aircraft. They had a second cockpit for an instructor pilot. Less than two weeks . The CIA ordered 12 of these aircraft, and starting in 1965, A-12s began flying missions as part of Operation Black Shield out of Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa, Japan. YF-12A # 60-6934 Absolute Speed Over a Straight Course: 2,070.101 mph .YF-12A #60-6936 From the operator's perspective, what I need is something that will not give me just a spot in time but will give me a track of what is happening. This portion of the skin was only supported by widely spaced structural ribs. Hinckley, UK: AeroFax-Midland Publishing, 2002. 3,500lb (1,588kg) of mission equipment, Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era. [26] At sustained speeds of more than Mach 3.2, the plane was faster than the Soviet Union's fastest interceptor, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, which also could not reach the SR-71's altitude. [45], Aerodynamicists discovered that the chines generated powerful vortices and created additional lift, leading to unexpected aerodynamic performance improvements. [29] To control costs, Lockheed used a more easily worked titanium alloy which softened at a lower temperature. The rotating machinery had become a drag item[61] and the engine thrust at high speeds came from the afterburner temperature rise. The counterargument was that the longer the SR-71 was not upgraded as aggressively as it ought to have been, the more people could say that it was obsolescent, which was in their interest as champions of other programs (a self-fulfilling bias). [67], The SR-71 also required in-flight refueling to replenish fuel during long-duration missions. [4], On most aircraft, the use of titanium was limited by the costs involved; it was generally used only in components exposed to the highest temperatures, such as exhaust fairings and the leading edges of wings. [89], Blackbird pilots and RSOs were provided with food and drink for the long reconnaissance flights. On July 28, 1976, an SR-71A set an Altitude in Horizontal Flight record at 85,068.997 feet. . Donald, David, ed. [66] However, the amount of fuel that leaked was not enough to make the refueling necessary; the planes refueled because the maximum speeds of the aircraft were only possible with aerial refueling. On one occasion, one complete wing with engine was replaced as the easiest way to get the plane airborne again. Due to the excessive cost of operating both A-12 and SR-71 programs, the SR-71 was chosen to take over Operation Black Shield at Kadena in 1968. [57][58] The engine was most efficient around Mach3.2,[59] the Blackbird's typical cruising speed. For other uses, see, See the opening fly page in Paul Crickmore's book. The SR-71 Blackbird cruises above Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). On 26 April 1971, 61-7968, flown by majors Thomas B. Estes and Dewain C. Vick, flew over 15,000 miles (24,000km) in 10 hours and 30 minutes. In actuality, the YF-12 was the twin-seat version of the top-secret single-seat Lockheed A-12, and its design became the forerunner of the highly sophisticated SR-71 Blackbird strategic reconnaissance aircraft. Capture of the plane's shock wave within the inlet is called "starting the inlet". ", "SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual: Section 1, Page 1-20", "SR-71A-1 Flight Manual, Section IV, p. During aerial reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes (Mach 3.2 and 85,000 feet, 25,900 meters), allowing it to outrace or entirely avoid threats. Twelve SR-71s were lost and one pilot died in accidents during the aircraft's service career. It's a very sandy soil and it's only found in very few parts of the world. On 29 November 2018, the four Swedish pilots involved were awarded medals from the USAF.[116][117]. The Blackbird was to retrace and photograph the flightpath of the hijacked 727 from Seattle to Reno and attempt to locate any of items that Cooper was known to have parachuted with from the aircraft. [178], Avionics The fly-over orbit of spy satellites may also be predicted and can allow assets to be hidden when the satellite passes, a drawback not shared by aircraft. Marshall, Eliot, "The Blackbird's Wake", Air & Space, October/November 1990, p. 35. It is the integration of strategic and tactical. Crickmore, Paul F. "Lockheed's Blackbirds A-12, YF-12 and SR-71A". 61-7980/NASA 844). An SR-71 refueling from a KC-135Q Stratotanker during a flight in 1983. It was located above and behind the student cockpit. [81] ELINT-gathering systems, called the Electro Magnetic Reconnaissance System, built by AIL could be carried in the chine bays to analyze electronic signal fields being passed through, and were programmed to identify items of interest. [86] The cabin needed a heavy-duty cooling system, as cruising at Mach3.2 would heat the aircraft's external surface well beyond 500F (260C)[87] and the inside of the windshield to 250F (120C). Why the SR-71 Blackbird Is Such a Badass Plane; The SR-71 was the result of a requirement for a high-speed, high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft. They maintained that, in a time of constrained military budgets, designing, building, and testing an aircraft with the same capabilities as the SR-71 would be impossible. Myagkiy and its Weapons System Officer (WSO) were able to achieve a SR-71 lock on at 52,000 feet and at a distance of 120 Km from the target. During the Cold War, pilots of the Concorde were asking air traffic control to move the SR-71 out of its way so it could proceed to New York's JF as well as other destinations. [2] If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outpace the missile. It decelerates further in the divergent duct to give the required speed at entry to the compressor. The aircraft flew at an altitude of over 80,000 feet (24,000 m) and at speeds over 2,190 miles per hour (3,520 km/h). Itek KA-102A 3648in (9101,220mm) camera. Today, 15 of the remaining SR-71s are housed at museums across the United States, three remain property of Lockheed, and three have been kept by NASA to study aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, and instrumentation. [85], The cockpit could be pressurized to an altitude of 10,000 or 26,000ft (3,000 or 8,000m) during flight. Bleed tubes and bypass doors were designed into the inlet and engine nacelles to handle some of this pressure and to position the final shock to allow the inlet to remain "started". Imagery gathered included supply depots, harbor installations, industrial complexes, and prisoner-of-war camps. This configuration never flew operational missions due to horrific accidents involving difficulty with drone separation that occurred during testing. [8] As of 2023[update] the SR-71 holds the world record it set in 1976 as the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, previously held by the related Lockheed YF-12. Due to budget concerns, this model never went into production. By 1970, the SR-71s were averaging two sorties per week, and by 1972, they were flying nearly one sortie every day. Johnson decided to counter this criticism by revealing the existence of the YF-12A USAF interceptor, which also served as cover for the still-secret A-12[20] and the USAF reconnaissance model since July 1964. . Only one crew member, Jim Zwayer, a Lockheed flight-test reconnaissance and navigation systems specialist, was killed in a flight accident. Kansas City, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., distance 942 miles (1,516km), average speed 2,176 miles per hour (3,502km/h), and an elapsed time of 25 minutes 59 seconds. [57], Air was initially compressed (and heated) by the inlet spike and subsequent converging duct between the center body and inlet cowl. 61-7976) operational mission flown from Kadena AB over Vietnam, 29 May 1968: CMSgt Bill Gornik begins the tie-cutting tradition of Habu crews' neckties, 3 December 1975: First flight of SR-71A (AF Ser. As the SR-71 had a second cockpit behind the pilot for the RSO, it could not carry the A-12's principal sensor, a single large-focal-length optical camera that sat in the "Q-Bay" behind the A-12's single cockpit. With your help, we can continue to preserve and safeguard the worlds most comprehensive collection of artifacts representing the great achievements of flight and space exploration. Development began on a coal slurry power plant, but Johnson determined that the coal particles damaged important engine components. The Blackbird landed at over 170 knots (200mph; 310km/h) and deployed a drag parachute to stop; the chute also acted to reduce stress on the tires.[39]. A joint project of the Air Force and CIA, the U-2 had great successes flying along the borders of the Soviet Union starting in 1956, eventually completing 24 successful missions. We need the [data] that a tactical, an SR-71, a U-2, or an unmanned vehicle of some sort, will give us, in addition to, not in replacement of, the ability of the satellites to go around and check not only that spot but a lot of other spots around the world for us. Reconnaissance aircraft. The CIA approved a US$96million contract for Skunk Works to build a dozen spy planes, named "A-12", on 11 February 1960. As the U-2 was called Kellys Angel, or Angel, Lockheeds designs for its successor were designated with an A prefix for Archangel. The CIA gave the contract to Lockheeds A-11, which was modified and secretly re-designated the A-12. The R-12 also had a larger two-seat cockpit, and reshaped fuselage chines. The U-2 was able to cruise at heights of more than 21,336 meters (70,000 feet), out of the reach of contemporary Soviet surface-to-air missiles and interceptors. One widely conventional view, and probably the best-known view, of the reasons for the SR-71's retirement in 1989a view that the Air Force itself offered to the Congresswas that besides being very expensive, the SR-71 had become redundant anyway, among other reconnaissance methods that were ever-evolving. [9][10][11], Lockheed's previous reconnaissance aircraft was the relatively slow U-2, designed for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). After passing through the turbine, the exhaust, together with the compressor bleed air, entered the afterburner. Such generals had an interest in believing, and persuading the services and the Congress, that the SR-71 had become either entirely or almost entirely redundant to satellites, U-2s, incipient UAV programs, and an alleged top-secret successor already under development. 61-7978) arrives at, 21 March 1968: First SR-71 (AF Ser. [N 5][47][48], The air inlets allowed the SR-71 to cruise at over Mach3.2, with the air slowing down to subsonic speed as it entered the engine. There were two routes. [123], Retired USAF Colonel Jay Murphy was made the Program Manager for Lockheed's reactivation plans. In flight, the ANS, which sat behind the reconnaissance systems officer's (RSO's), position, tracked stars through a circular quartz glass window on the upper fuselage. The program's cancellation was announced on 28 December 1966,[13] due both to budget concerns[14] and because of the forthcoming SR-71, a derivative of the A-12. These SR-71 photos were photographed by civilians or members/veterans of the US. [3] On average, each SR-71 could fly once per week due to the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. It reached 20,000 feet (6,100m) of altitude in less than two minutes, and the typical 80,000 feet (24,000m) cruising altitude in another 17 minutes, having used one third of its fuel. The Blackbird was designed to provide reconnaissance in defended airspace while improving aircrew survivability. [56], The SR-71 was powered by two Pratt & Whitney J58 (company designation JT11D-20) axial-flow turbojet engines. Marshall, Elliot, The Blackbird's Wake, Air and Space, October/November 1990, p. 35. Thus, Swedish airspace was violated, whereupon two unarmed[115] Saab JA 37 Viggens on an exercise at the height of Vstervik were ordered there. [43], The SR-71 featured chines, a pair of sharp edges leading aft from either side of the nose along the fuselage. USAF Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation and wanted the RS-71 to be named SR-71. [N 1] It was operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA.[1]. [138][139] However, the USAF is officially pursuing the Northrop Grumman RQ-180 UAV to assume the SR-71's strategic ISR role. Lockheed Martin. Soviet overflights ceased and the U-2 continued flying missions over places with less sophisticated air defense systems. The SR-71 Blackbird is a supersonic reconnaissance aircraft. As velocity decreased, so did frictional heat. )[26]:205217 The chief question for opinion, beyond that point, was only how crucial, or disposable, those unique advantages properly were. This proportion increased progressively with speed until the afterburner provided all the thrust at about Mach 3. St. Louis, Missouri, to Cincinnati, Ohio, distance 311.4 miles (501.1km), average speed 2,189.9 miles per hour (3,524.3km/h), and an elapsed time of 8 minutes 32 seconds. The strategic reconnaissance aircraft could operate at an altitude of . Much like the SR-71, the A-12 was about 30-meters (100-feet) long, had a wingspan of 17 meters (55 feet), and weighed 54,431 kilograms (120,000 pounds). By the time the SAM site could track the SR-71, it was often too late to launch a SAM, and the SR-71 would be out of range before the SAM could catch up to it. 61-7959) in "big tail" configuration, 2728 July 1976: SR-71A sets speed and altitude records (altitude in horizontal flight: 85,068.997ft (25,929.030m) and speed over a straight course: 2,193.167 miles per hour (3,529.560km/h)), 15 January 1982: SR-71B, AF Ser. One plane was almost hit by a missile on 26 August 1981 over the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea but managed to evade and out-fly it. Some of this compressor flow (20% at cruise) was removed after the fourth compressor stage and went straight to the afterburner through six bypass tubes. Food was contained in sealed containers similar to toothpaste tubes which delivered food to the crewmember's mouth through the helmet opening. Landis and Jenkins 2005, pp. [60], At around Mach3, the temperature rise from the intake compression, added to the engine compressor temperature rise, reduced the allowable fuel flow because the turbine temperature limit did not change. ', American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird&oldid=1142415593, 1960s United States military reconnaissance aircraft, High-altitude and long endurance aircraft, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from August 2014, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2023, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from February 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2012, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from May 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lost, 10 October 1968. Blackbird aircraft have been setting records since day one. [19], During the 1964 campaign, Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater repeatedly criticized President Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration for falling behind the Soviet Union in developing new weapons. However, another view held by various officers and legislators is that the SR-71 program was terminated owing to Pentagon politics, and not because the aircraft had become obsolete, irrelevant, too hard to maintain, or unsustainably expensive. This meant that much of the SR-71's imagery and radar data could not be used in real time, but had to wait until the aircraft returned to base. The Air Force decided to order its own two-seat version of the A-12, a refined reconnaissance version for the Strategic Air Command. Unofficially, SR-71 pilot Brian Shul states in his book The Untouchables that he flew in excess of Mach 3.5 on 15 April 1986 over Libya to evade a missile. On 28 July 1976, SR-71 serial number 61-7962, piloted by then Captain Robert Helt, broke the world record: an "absolute altitude record" of 85,069 feet (25,929 m). One was along the Norwegian west coast and up the Kola Peninsula, which contained several large naval bases belonging to the Soviet Navy's Northern Fleet. The aircraft is silhouetted against the sunset. [11][129][130] SR-71 pilot Brian Shul states in his book The Untouchables that he flew in excess of Mach3.5 on 15 April 1986 over Libya to evade a missile.[95]. According to Richard Graham, a former SR-71 pilot, the navigation system was good enough to limit drift to 1,000ft (300m) off the direction of travel at Mach3.[73]. Yesterday's historic transcontinental flight was a sad memorial to our short-sighted policy in strategic aerial reconnaissance.[136]. Merely accelerating would typically be enough for an SR-71 to evade a SAM;[3] changes by the pilots in the SR-71's speed, altitude, and heading were also often enough to spoil any radar lock on the plane by SAM sites or enemy fighters. In late 1957, the CIA approached the defense contractor Lockheed to build an undetectable spy plane. On 28 July 1976, SR-71 serial number 61-7958 set an absolute speed record of 1,905.81 knots (2,193.2 mph; 3,529.6 km/h), approximately Mach 3.3. The SR-71 had a radar cross-section (RCS) around 110sqft (10m2). [112][113][114], On 29 June 1987, an SR-71 was on a mission around the Baltic Sea to spy on Soviet postings when one of the engines exploded. ", "Design and Development of the Blackbird: Challenges and Lessons Learned", "Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" - Air Power Provided", "SR-71 Blackbird: The Cold War's ultimate spy plane", "OXCART vs Blackbird: Do You Know the Difference? The SR-71's record setting speed and high-altitude flights helped it keep enemies at bay. Tweet Print Number of views (3119) Tags: Aircraft Records SR-71 Record List A general misunderstanding of the nature of aerial reconnaissance and a lack of knowledge about the SR-71 in particular (due to its secretive development and operations) was used by detractors to discredit the aircraft, with the assurance given that a replacement was under development. Originally planned as a high . Titanium was in short supply in the United States, so the Skunk Works team was forced to look elsewhere for the metal. One successful offshoot of the A-12 was the SR-71 Blackbird. [11] That same day SR-71 serial number 61-7958 set an absolute speed record of 1,905.81 knots (2,193.2mph; 3,529.6km/h), approximately Mach3.3. [46] The angle of incidence of the delta wings could be reduced for greater stability and less drag at high speeds, and more weight carried, such as fuel. On September 1, 1974, Major James Sullivan and his backseater, Major Noel F. Widdifield, set a speed record in SR-71A serial no. Now when talking about SR-71 probably the most frequently asked Blackbird question is-how high and how fast does it really fly? The 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers's U-2 underscored the aircraft's vulnerability and the need for faster reconnaissance aircraft such as the A-12. These generals were adept at communicating the value of the SR-71 to a USAF command staff and a Congress who often lacked a basic understanding of how the SR-71 worked and what it did. [4][5] In 1989, the USAF retired the SR-71 largely for political reasons; several were briefly reactivated during the 1990s before their second retirement in 1998. The aircraft, however, was detected on radar as soon as overflights began and it was only a matter of time before one would be intercepted. Lockheed SR-71 (Blackbird) High-Altitude, High-Speed Reconnaissance Aircraft [ 1966 ] The SR-71 maintained an excellent operational service record during its Cold War tenure, though a dozen were lost to accidents. The J58s were retrofitted as they became available, and became the standard engine for all subsequent aircraft in the series (A-12, YF-12, M-21), as well as the SR-71. [122] Senator Robert Byrd and other senators complained that the "better than" successor to the SR-71 had yet to be developed at the cost of the "good enough" serviceable aircraft. [40], The second operational aircraft[41] designed around a stealth aircraft shape and materials, after the Lockheed A-12,[41] the SR-71 had several features designed to reduce its radar signature. The Blackbirds were designed to cruise at "Mach 3+," just over three times the speed of sound or more than 2,200 miles per hour and at altitudes up to 85,000 feet. NASA developed a computer to control the engine bypass doors which countered this issue and improved efficiency. ", "SR-71 Pilot Interview Richard Graham Veteran Tales", "SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual: Section 4, Page 4-86", "SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual: Section 4, Page 4-99", "SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual: Section 4, Page 4-123", "SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual: Section 4, Page 4-129", "SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual: Section 4, Page 4-132", "SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual: Section 4, Page 4-146", "First man to fly the world's fastest aircraft dies in Rancho Mirage", "SR-71 Pilot Interview Richard Graham, Veteran Tales interview at Frontiers of Flight Museum (at 1:02:55)", "Memorandum for the Chairman, Sanitization and Decontrol Working Group Black Shield Photography", "Bye Bye U-2: CIA Legend Allen Predicts End Of Manned Reconnaissance", "SPIONFLY, DEN KALDE KRIGEN - Spionfly landet i Bod", "TV: Krnvapenskra bunkern styrde flygplanen", "4 Swedish JA-37 Viggen pilots receives medals for SR-71 Blackbird rescue operation 1987 Part:1/2", "4 Swedish JA-37 Viggen pilots receives medals for SR-71 Blackbird rescue operation 1987 Part:2/2", "SR-71 World Record Speed and Altitude Flights", "A-12, YF-12A, & SR-71 Timeline of Events", "Spy Plane Sets Speed Record, Then Retires. [42] Drawing on early studies in radar stealth technology, which indicated that a shape with flattened, tapering sides would reflect most energy away from a radar beam's place of origin, engineers added chines and canted the vertical control surfaces inward. ", "NASA Dryden Technology Facts - YF-12 Flight Research Program", "A Technology Pathway for Airbreathing, Combined-Cycle, Horizontal Space Launch Through SR-71 Based Trajectory Modeling. President Eisenhower had approved the use of bombers and balloons in the early 1950s for intelligence gathering, but these craft were vulnerable to antiaircraft artillery and fighter-interceptors. . On 28 July 1976, SR-71 serial number 61-7962, piloted by then Captain Robert Helt, broke the world record: an "absolute altitude record" of 85,069 feet (25,929m). [71][verification needed], Before takeoff, a primary alignment brought the ANS's inertial components to a high degree of accuracy. [84] After landing, information from the SLAR, ELINT gathering systems, and the maintenance data recorder were subjected to postflight ground analysis. Named Blackbird due to its unique blue to black color, this aircraft would set numerous world records for speed and altitude. Free shipping for many products! The same day another SR-71 set an absolute speed record of 3,529.6 kilometers per hour (2,193.2 miles per hour), approximately Mach 3.3. Cockpit section survived and located at the, 13 June 1962: SR-71 mock-up reviewed by the USAF, 30 July 1962: J58 completes pre-flight testing, 28 December 1962: Lockheed signs contract to build six SR-71 aircraft, 25 July 1964: President Johnson makes public announcement of SR-71, 29 October 1964: SR-71 prototype (AF Ser. Specialized protective pressurized suits were produced for crew members by the David Clark Company for the A-12, YF-12, M-21 and SR-71. [140], National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)[150]. In the Blackbird, mission success . The SR-71 was one of several spy airplanes built to venture into enemy territory without being shot down or even detected. 61-7974, is lost due to an engine explosion after taking off from Kadena AB, the last Blackbird to be lost, 22 November 1989: USAF SR-71 program officially terminated, 6 March 1990: Last SR-71 flight under Senior Crown program, setting four speed records en route to the Smithsonian Institution, 25 July 1991: SR-71B, AF Ser. Answer (1 of 7): In fact, common data say that SR-71 could fly at 85,000ft (26km) altitude and up to Mach 3.35 with a cruise speed of Mach 3.1. Flights often lasted more than six hours and covered more than 11,265 kilometers (7,000 square miles). Paul Crickmore, Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond The Secret Missions, 1993, p. 233. American leaders needed to know about the Soviet Unions nuclear capability, ICBM program, and military installations. Merlin, Peter W. "The Truth is Out There SR-71 Serials and Designations". The highest altitude recorded on an SR-71 Blackbird is 25,929 meters. [91][92] The SR-71 reached a top speed of Mach 3.4 during flight testing,[93][94] with pilot Major Brian Shul reporting a speed in excess of Mach 3.5 on an operational sortie while evading a missile over Libya. The primary consumers of this intelligence were the CIA, NSA, and DIA. What would happen if an SR-71 tried to surpass that altitude? [81][83], Over its operational life, the Blackbird carried various electronic countermeasures (ECMs), including warning and active electronic systems built by several ECM companies and called Systems A, A2, A2C, B, C, C2, E, G, H, and M. On a given mission, an aircraft carried several of these frequency/purpose payloads to meet the expected threats.