(MLenoch) wrote:

Ed:
Got the book today!! Can't wait to read it!!
Quick question: what were the altitudes flow by the F-105 inbound to targets?
What were some of the considerations for altitude selection, if there were any?
Thx mucho,
VL

Altitudes for ingress/egress varied over time. I discuss a bit about
the philosophies of the two wings (without belaboring it as did
Broughton and Bell).

Initially the years of low-low-low tactics used in Europe for nuclear
profiles prevaiiled. We realized while I was doing the job in '66 that
you could do that on a target you studied extensively, but on daily
changing tactical targets, it meant lots of opportunity to get lost,
miss the target entirely, or be in a position from which delivery was
impossible.

At Korat we raised the ingress to about 4500 AGL--high enough to be
out of small arms, high enough to give a longer lead/time-of-flight
for AAA, yet low enough to get quickly down into ground clutter and
terrain masking for SAM evasion.

By December of '66 when ECM pods came into use, the ingress altitude
was raised to 14-18,000 MSL.

Here's a brief excerpt from WTR on the topic:

"Mitchell was one of the few leaders in the squadron who still
supported the tactic of low level run in to the target. Most had
decided that the disadvantages far out-weighed any advantage. Enemy
radar reached as far as the tanker tracks, so the bad guys knew we
were coming. Sure, the low altitude provided shielding from SAM radar,
but it also meant you were within range of even the smallest of guns.
It also made it a whole lot harder to find the targets. Low altitude
meant your navigation had to be absolutely perfect, because it was
only when you popped up to bombing altitude that you could see to
identify your target. A few degrees off on your run-in and you might
be too close to drop, you might be so wide that you'd have to float at
the apex of your pop exposed to all of the target area guns, or you
might simply miss your target entirely.

Let there be no doubt about it, running along on the tree tops at 540
knots in a flight of four F-105s loaded with high explosive iron may
be the most exciting thing a man can do with his pants on. You've got
the most impressive piece of machinery on the planet strapped to your
ass and it responds to your every wish. The throttle controls the
beast's heartbeat and the slightest movement of the stick directs your
flight path. You're the lord of evil perched on your rocket-powered
throne and coming to deliver justice. It's exhilarating and thrilling,
frightening and almost orgasmic. But it isn't necessarily tactically
sound."



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038