RIPPLE SALVO… #847… “THE BULLPUP WAS THE FIRST MASS-PRODUCED AIR-SURFACE COMMAND GUIDED MISSILE, IT WAS FIRST DEPLOYED IN 1959 AS THE ASM-N-7.” It was redesignated the AGM-12B in 1962. “It was developed as a result of experiences in the Korean War where US airpower had great difficulty in destroying targets which required precise aiming and were often heavily defended, such as bridges. Although they could hit targets fairly accurately, pilots found that the warhead of the AGM-12 was not very effective against the massive structures of large bridges in North Vietnam.”… (Wikipedia) There was no weapon in the inventory that was more fun to deliver than Bullpup!… but first…
GOOD MORNING… Day EIGHT HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN of a return to the longest air war in American history–OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER…
HEAD LINES from The New York Times on Sunday, 30 June 1968…
THE WAR: Page 1: “ENEMY DESTROYS FISHING VILLAGE–88 CIVILIANS DEAD–103 VIETNAMESE WOUNDED DURING ATTACK ON MILITARY UNITS CAMPED NEARBY–U.S. Terms It An Atrocity–15 Pacification Workers Listed Among Casualties–5 of Foe’s Men Slain”… “A small fishing village on the South Chin Sea was reduced to rubble and many of its inhabitants were killed or wounded last night during an enemy attack on a military unit camped nearby…. the death toll included 73 villagers and 15 armed Government pacification workers… South Vietnamese said that enemy soldiers threw hand grenades into shelters dug below the homes of villagers. American sources could not confirm this report. at least 85 per cent of the buildings in the village were burned to the ground… It was the worst single incident to befall South Vietnamese civilians since last December 5, when several hundred persons were killed or wounded in the hamlet of Dakson, 74 miles northeast of Saigon. In that attack, the Vietcong were said to have used flame throwers….. Meanwhile, in Saigon rumors of imminent attack continue. At least 30 enemy soldiers were killed during a battle 14 miles southwest of the city.”…
PEACE TALKS; Page 3: “HANOI ENVOY LEAVES PARIS UNEXPECTEDLY”… “Le Duc Tho, politically the most important member of the North Vietnamese negotiating delegation here, left Paris unexpectedly today to return to Hanoi via Moscow and Peking….will miss next negotiating session, on Wednesday… Spokesman for the delegation said however, that he would return to Paris ‘in the near future.’ He declined to say whether Mr. Tho would bring back any ‘new proposals.’ “… STATE DEPARTMENT. Office of Historian. Historical Documents. Foreign Relations. 1964-68 Vietnam. Document 288 is a memo from the President’s Special Assistant Walt Rostow to the President relaying the decisions concerning new proposals to present to the North Vietnamese in paris in a few days… One pager of what the “Wise Men” are thinking about concerning the value of the Rolling Thunder as their bargaining chip… Read at
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v06/d288
Page 1: JOHNSON IN PLEA FOR CURB ON ARMS BY U.S. AND SOVIET–At Dam Dedication He Urges Control of Competition In Anti-Ballistic Missiles”… Page 1: “DE GAULLE PLEADS FOR A STRONG VOTE IN TODAY’S RUNOFF–Makes An 11th Hour appeal On Radio And Television Despite Law to Contrary”… Page 1: “SAIGON PREMIER TO OUT 50 TO 100 DISTRICT CHIEFS”… Page 2: “STUDENT RIVALRY FLORES IN JAPAN–A Power Struggle Between Factions Adds To Violence”… Page 2: “STUDENT UNREST PLAGUES LATIN AMERICA”… Page 4: “ANTIWAR PROTESTS PLANNED IN CHICAGO”… “A coalition of 100 organizations intends to hold a series of demonstrations in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention to press for a halt in the Vietnam fighting. David Delinger, head of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam at committee headquarters in New York said that his group had canvassed rank-and-file voters throughout the country and found a ‘disillusionment with all the Presidential candidates.’ ‘We don’t find any candidates satisfactory on the war issue and we have decided that we can get more action by taking to the streets to demonstrate,’ Mr. Delinger. He said that the focus would be on the Democratic convention that starts on August 26 because it is ‘the Democrats convention that starts on August 26 because it is ‘the democrats who are in power.’ A spokesman for the group said later that there would be local demonstrations at the Republican National convention that starts in Miami Beach on August 5.”… Page 3: “U.S. KEEPS SILENT ON PUEBLO REPORT–SEOUL PAPER SAYS RELEASE OF CREW MAY BE NEAR”…
30 JUNE 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times: No coverage of air operations north of the DMZ… VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There was one fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 30 June 1968…
(1) CAPTAIN F.F. DAVIS was flying an F-100D of the 352n TFS and 35th TFW out of Phan Rang on a close air support mission 18 miles southwest of Tan Son Nhut and was hit by ground fire recovering from diving attack on enemy bunkers. The port wing burst into flame and CAPTAIN DAVIS ejected to be rescued by an Army helicopter to fly and fight again…
RIPPLE SALVO… #847… EMPLOYMENT OF BULLPUP … The Bullpup had a Manual Command Line of Sight guidance system with roll-stabilization. In flight the pilot… tracked the Bullpup by watching a parasite flare on the back of the missile and used a control joystick to steer it toward the target using radio signals. It was initially powered by a solid fuel rocket motor and carried a 250-pound warhead. After launching the Bullpup, best accuracy was maintained by continuing to fly directly at the target and steering the missile to keep the flare on that steady line of sight. The original controls were limited to one command at a time: UP, DOWN, RIGHT, or LEFT. Later control was called proportional and allowed combinations of commands, such as, “Left and Up” to be radioed to the missile to get the missile that was on a track down-and-to-the-right of desired track, back on track. There were two versions of the Bullpup on Yankee Station for delivery by the Light Attack–VA– squadrons, and over time other aircraft. The AGM-12B was a 250-pound warhead missile and the AGM-C was a 1,000-pound warhead missile. Humble Host loved them both and was fortunate to log 26 Bullpup missions against targets in North Vietnam, mostly bridges, large and small. Many of those missions were with two Bullpups.
From the Compilation “34TFS/F-105 History” by Howie Plunkett dated 30-Jun-68… “At the 388th TFW, F-105s ‘…flew AGM-12C (Bullpup) missions per the daily frag established by 7th AF, depended on the supply of missiles. Seventh AF fragged the wing for Bullpup missions an average of five out of seven days. Selected crews from the 34 TFS and the 469 TFS flew the Bullpup missions. The missile was used against special targets requiring pinpoint accurate delivery of ordnance, principally in RP-1 an occasionally in Barrell Roll/Steel Tiger.’… At the 388 TFW. ‘…aircrew training for the AGM-12C program consisted of 100 runs in the Bullpup simulator plus 10 runs seven days prior to each fragged mission.’…
“During the quarter, ‘the reliability of the AGM-12C Bullpup missile decreased slightly, dropping the yearly average to 85.3% since 1 January 1968. Most of the malfunctions were the result of no guidance control being established between the aircraft and the missile after launch, and the 388th Munitions Maintenance Squadron was conducting tests to determine the problem was in the missile system of the aircraft guidance system.
“Statistics published in the wing history showed that the 388 TFW flew a total of 340 AGM-12C missions in which 297 missiles were fired. 251 successfully, during the period January-June 1968. The missile reliability was determined to be 86.45% for this period. Comparable figures for the period 24 July– 3 December 1967 were 175 AGM-12C missions flown, 161 missiles launched with 116 launched successfully, for a reliability of 77.5%.
“The AGM-12C was especially effective against targets such as railroad bridges, storage caves, significant water craft and was also found to be quite satisfactory for critical, steep-graded road intersection points. The 1,000-pound warhead with delay fuzing gave the missile above average penetrating capability. Normally AGM-12C flights deployed as a flight of two, each carrying two missiles with different delay fuzing. The missile was radio-control guided by the pilot and launched at approximately 12,000-feet AGL, 24,000-feet slant range and 350 knots air speed. The missile was capable of reaching 2.25 at sea level. (Humble Host liked a 15,000-foot roll-in, 45-degree dive, launch at 12,000, 300 knots. Shallow dive angles lead to 6 o’clock hits)
“In a combat environment containing AAA and SAM defenses, the required tactics necessary for satisfactory launch and guidance of AGM-12C placed the pilot in an extremely vulnerable position. Since he had to concentrate his entire attention on guidance and was restricted from evasive maneuvers, he presented an easy target for enemy gunners. However, to date, no wing aircraft have been lost while on Bullpup missions.” (In a SAM environment the SA-2 missile warning system had to disregarded during the control phase of the delivery…scary)…
Humble Host fired Big Bullpups at the big bridges at Hai Duong and two at the Thanh Hoa Bridge, got good hits and blackened the bridges, but not much damage. A long and colorful trip for so little payoff. But the effort was worth the try . For one reason–the enemy fired more ordnance at me than I expended on them, and they had to repaint the bridges. On the Than Hoa experience, I ended up in my stateroom back on Enterprise because the CO declared my impromptu sneak attack on the “Mouth of the Dragon” a “vainglorious” thing to do… Hell, I thought it was war… The 34th TFS write-up didn’t include SAM sites in their short target list, but SAM sites were ideal targets and constituted extraordinary opportunities to go one V. one with the bad guys… “Gunfight at the OK Corral”.
There was nothing more satisfying than putting a Big Bullpup into a firing SAM site and getting a radar van to disintegrate right before your eyes. With the Bullpup the pilot was required to watch his ‘Pup impact. Bombs were launch-and-leave and you got your satisfaction looking back over your shoulder. Nothing quite like seeing it hit through the front window. Collateral damage like an SA-2 snaking around on the ground tearing up everything in its path–all enemy owned and operated– was a nice bonus…. One of my favorite loadouts was three Mk-83s on the centerline and an AGM-12B Little Bullpup on each outboard wing station, then going bridge killing in RP-2. The rice lands of North Vietnam are target rich with hundreds of small bridges. Perfect targets for the AGM-12B. In May of 1968 Humble Host with LTJG Jesse James on the wing were detailed to take out a bridge about 20 miles southwest of Vinh, a very hostile territory. Jesse took it out with his three MK-83s on one pass. We still had 4 weapons and a free ticket to take on the possible bypasses to the downed bridge, so we did our own targeting. Jesse got two more small bridges and I got one. Two A-4Fs nailed four bridges in a half-hour of the greatest fun an attack pilot can possibly have… A dozen E-rides on one ticket. I wrote up Jesse for a DFC that never got a look by the ship’s award board. DFCs for LTJGs were as scarce as rooster teeth. Knocking down three bridges in one flight in Indian country is what I call Distinguished Flying… There…that’s off my chest… been bugging me for fifty years…. Jesse was killed in 1969 flying an A-7 Corsair II… He deserved better.
The Bullpup went out of the inventory in the 1970s as the over-rated and punchless Walleye I and II came into the inventory. The dumb bombs of the Mk-80 series remained the principal weapon for our air-to-mud aviators through the 1980s and into the 1990s awaiting the Advanced Bomb Family and the Advanced Interdiction Weapon System. These two developments went into joint development under my watch in the E-Ring in 1991 as JDAM and JSOW…Smart weapons using GPS technology to get accurate hits from long standoff distances by smart aviators in smart airplanes now using super smart weapons. In fact, the aircraft and the weapons have achieved a level of efficiency, reliability and accuracy that the requirement for a pilot is now under review. Gone forever are the days of bridge killing with Bullpups… You can add your own comments below.
RTR quote for 30 June: GENERAL ADOLPH GALLAND: “As a fighter pilot I know from my own experiences how decisive surprise and luck can be to success, which in the long run comes only to the one who combines daring with cool thinking.”…
Lest we forget… Bear