How did RA-5C perform in actual combat?

The equipment technology of RA-5C is carried out simultaneously with actual combat. 1In August, 1964, the first RA-5C aircraft carried out reconnaissance mission over Vietnam. In order to prevent this high-tech aircraft from falling into the hands of North Vietnam, the original mission scope of RA-5C was completely defined over South Vietnam, so it was impossible to obtain any useful information at all, and the navy had to allow RA-5C to enter the airspace of North Vietnam.

The task of RA-5C is to search the position and mobilization of North Vietnamese troops, collect battlefield information before and after the war, and take a large number of topographic photos of Vietnam for making military maps.

Normally, RA-5C will not take off from an aircraft carrier without its own fighter in the air. Although using the same engine as the F-4 fighter, the RA-5C is much heavier than the F-4, so its maneuverability is definitely not as good as that of the F-4, but after all, they have similar high-speed performance. Therefore, the task of escorting RA-5C is usually assigned to F-4, which also acts as the rear of RA-5C.

Although the mobility of RA-5C is not as good as that of F-4, it is still superior in speed. Therefore, in the air conversation, it is often heard that fighter pilots ask RA-5C pilots to fly slowly.

When flying over the airspace of North Vietnam, RA-5C pilots usually turn on the afterburner at a speed not lower than 1 Mach, and enter the target area at a height of 2 100m to 2,400. Generally, RA-5C will not fly directly over the dangerous area, and its camera has a certain lateral shooting function, which has two advantages. First, the possibility of being attacked by North Vietnamese ground-to-air weapons can be minimized. Second,

Flash pods are almost never used in actual combat. This guy will only say to the North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun: Look, I have it here. Passive infrared sensors and side-looking radars are more used for night tasks, but these electronic devices are expensive and often cannot be turned on in the sky. A new joke arises at the historic moment: "Do you want to buy RA-5C? Don't sell a dozen less, it's for your own good, at least one can be guaranteed. "

The remnants of the built-in bomb bay are still causing harm. Although it has been completely used to install the auxiliary fuel tank, the auxiliary fuel tank will still fall out of the cabin when the plane takes off, causing a fire. At least one RA-5C is reimbursed in this way. Fortunately, the pilot reacted quickly and bounced out.

During the Vietnam War, 18 RA-5Cs were damaged, and the war damage rate was the highest among all naval aircraft. Among them, 13 was shot down by anti-aircraft guns, two hit Sam, one was bitten by MIG -2 1, and two fell inexplicably.

RA-5C's high battle loss rate can also be said to be because its mission is too dangerous. Before and after each air raid, RA-5C circled over the war zone. In the initial stage, reconnaissance before air raid was relatively safe. North Vietnam didn't want to expose the target prematurely, but soon they found that A-6 came as soon as RA-5C left, so North Vietnam decided not to let RA-5C go back, so A-6 might not come.

After the air raid, reconnaissance is very dangerous. North Vietnamese soldiers will shoot into the air with all weapons. Because the main purpose of reconnaissance after the air raid is to take photos of the battlefield and judge the effect of the air raid, as long as the last bomb falls, the photos count. Therefore, almost all the RA-5C troops conducting reconnaissance after the air raid are willing to take the A-6 to the war zone as long as they see the A-6 bomb landing, and follow closely behind the last A-6.

Of the 36 pilots of 18 RA-5C that were shot down, only 9 were rescued, and the rest were either dead or captured. The rescue work is really as thrilling as a movie.

Franz Freeden geist Jr. was an RA-5C RAN (backseat) and was shot down over North Vietnam on March 1967. One version of the story of his salvation is quite wonderful (there is another version, but the details are slightly different). Little Franz parachuted not far from the sea and was immediately caught by the North Vietnamese militia, but only two people stayed to watch. Little Franz has a 38 caliber revolver, but now it is in the hands of a North Vietnamese militia, and another militia is holding a rifle. Little Franz was still carrying a 22-caliber automatic pistol, which was not found when the militia searched him.

At this moment, a rescue helicopter suddenly appeared at sea, and the militia guarding little Franz subconsciously made an evasive action. Little Franz immediately took out an automatic pistol and killed the North Vietnamese militia with a rifle. The militiamen with little Franz revolvers immediately shot at little Franz, but the gun didn't fire. To be on the safe side, the first two rounds in Franz Jr.' s revolver magazine are empty shells, and only the third round starts with live ammunition. Little Franz took this opportunity to kill the second militiaman, then jumped into the sea and swam to the rescue helicopter to survive.

RA-5C was used until the end of Vietnam War. As the production line has been closed, spare parts for RA-5C are becoming more and more difficult to obtain, and electronic technology has also made great progress. Similar reconnaissance tasks can be completely completed by fighters carrying reconnaissance pods. Therefore, RA-5C gradually retired from active service from 1974, and by 1979, the name of RA-5C "vigilante" no longer exists in the US Navy sequence.

Most retired RA-5Cs are used as fixed targets and consumed in various exercises and experiments. One of them was also used as the target of Tomahawk cruise missiles and was brilliantly blown into a big fireball. I believe you still remember this famous video.

RA-5C reconnaissance plane