Word: radar
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...which was examining behind closed doors the campaign against Hanoi carried on for a time by Air Force General John D. Lavelle. Last spring Lavelle was recalled from his command of all Air Force activity in Southeast Asia and demoted for conducting 28 raids against North Vietnamese airfields and radar sites between November 1971 and March 1972. The raids were in clear violation of the White House rules then in force on bombing North Viet Nam, and came at a period when the Administration was engaged in delicate peace negotiations with Hanoi...
...anti-aircraft emplacements, 2) engaged by MIG fighters in the air or 3) threatened by surface-to-air (SAM) missiles. Pilots could readily tell when they were in danger from SAMs because an indicator on their control panel would automatically light up when a SAM'S tracking radar locked onto their planes. Any of these three conditions entitled pilots to take "protective reaction" and loose their ordnance against the enemy...
While not denying the essential charges against him, Lavelle offered basically two defenses. One was that since the original formulation of the rules of engagement in 1968, Hanoi had greatly increased the sophistication of its air defenses. For years Hanoi had utilized -in addition to the SAM-linked radar -a countrywide Ground Clearance Intercept system similar to U.S. commercial radar for ground control of aircraft. At the time of his command, U.S. planes could detect the local SAM radar, but few if any were equipped to detect tracking by the GCI radar system (most are now). In any case...
...implied that Abrams had known about his activities and, worse, had perhaps sanctioned them. But last week, under pinpoint questioning by Senate committee members, Lavelle admitted that he not only had never requested Abrams' authorization, but had never even told his superior his theory that the new radar setup called for a more liberal interpretation of the rules. That admission seemed to clear the way for Abrams' confirmation as Army Chief of Staff, but by no means answered all the questions of who else was involved in Lavelle's secret raids...
From a secret base tucked away in the jungles of Southeast Asia, 20 small, stripped-down jet aircraft are catapulted into the air from the backs of large trucks. As they come within range of enemy radar, the planes take electronic measures to prevent detection. They are spotted by several interceptor aircraft but manage to outmaneuver them. Finally, the minibombers reach their target and unload their explosives with deadly accuracy. Several enemy surface-to-air missiles score hits on the raiders, but not a single pilot is killed, lost or captured. Reason: the mission has been flown entirely by robot...