rdd@vondrake.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) (10/18/89)
From: rdd@vondrake.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) At an airshow at Bergstrom AFB yesterday, an E-3A was featured. On each engine was an object which does not appear on either the 707 or the KC-135. It appears as a cylinder at the rear, with the longitudinal axis parallel to the longit- udinal axis of the engine. The rear opening is about a foot wide, perhaps six inches deep, and located around a foot forward of the engine exhaust. The area inside the opening is totally flat, with a non-reflective black surface inside it (it does not appear to be a cover). The cylinder extends about six feet forward, gradually tapering into the engine pylon. The entire assembly is right above the engine nacelle itself. My question: what IS it? :-) Here's the info they're giving out on the fact card... Prime contractor: Boeing Aerospace Company and Westinghouse Airframe: Modified Boeing 707-320B Power Plant: Four Pratt & Whitney TF-33-PW-100A turbofan engines. Speed: in excess of 500 mph (M 0.78) Normal Operating Altitude: 29,000 to 31,000' Endurance: 11 hours unrefuelled, 22 hours refuelled (engine oil limitation) Radar range: 225 nautical miles low-altitude 335 nautical miles medium/high altitude targets Generally "250 miles plus." Detection speed: targets moving at greater than 80 mph. Crew size: 17-25 crew members (4 flight crew; 13-21 mission crew) Number of aircraft Total of 34 in fleet--33 operated by the Air Force, one by the Air Force's Electronic Systems Division at Boeing Aerospace Co., Seattle, Wash. Cost: In excess of $179.5 million each (includes R&D, parts, spares, unique equipment). Provides surveillance, command, control and communications capability. Detects and tracks fixed-wing aircraft at all altitudes against both land and sea backgrounds. Detects and tracks maritime surface vessels Will direct friendly aircraft against enemy aircraft before they reach their ordnance release points Delivery First aircraft delivered March 1977 Last aircraft delivered July 1984 Nickname: Sentry
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (10/19/89)
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) >From: rdd@vondrake.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) >At an airshow ... an E-3A was featured. On each engine >was an object which does not appear on either the 707 or the KC-135... > a cylinder at the rear... The entire >assembly is right above the engine nacelle itself. > >My question: what IS it? :-) It's a pulsed infrared emitter for confusing heat-seeking missiles. Partly as protection in combat, partly against the possibility that some sneaky terrorist with a shoulder-launched missile will hide near an airbase and take pot-shots at those enormously expensive aircraft. (You'll see similar IR jammers on Air Force One and NASA's shuttle-carrier 747 if you look hard.) The USAF has finally started to take seriously the notion that people might shoot at its radar aircraft. Radar countermeasures are also probably present, but they're a bit less obvious. (Some nasty British writers are fond of observing that the average RAF Bomber Command aircraft of 1945 had more countermeasures gear than most NATO combat aircraft today.) Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu