Convair F-106H Mystic Mission

[comrade harps]

Convair F-106H Mystic Mission
a/c 63-460 EL "Mutha" personal mount of Captain Joseph Motherwell (Pilot) and Major Gordon Roberts (Weapons Systems Operator)
34th Bomb Squadron, November 1966
Dogondoutchi Air Base, Niger



Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques (DAMIT) was an ambitious Pentagon program to interdict nocturnal Red logistical activity deep within the enemy's integrated air defence zones that spread across much of North Africa, into the "Red Lake" of the Mediterranean and over southern Europe as part of Operation Storm Front. DAMIT was a significant prime mover for the PAVE (Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment) programme that sought to bring greater accuracy to all-weather navigation and weapons delivery. Various USAF aircraft were used to execute DAMIT strikes, including the B-57B Pave Box Canberra, the B-66F Destroyer, the B-58B Pave Hook Hustler, the B-72D Storm and the F-106G Mystics River and F-06H Mystic Mission models of the Delta Dart.




After the initial F-106A/B (single seat/two seat) interceptors, the F-106C/D were Vulcan cannon-armed fighters that toted combinations of AIM-4, AIM-9 and AIM-7 air-to-air missiles on their air superiority missions. The F-106E was a two-seat all-weather attack plane, which had been ordered as a smaller, cheaper partner to the same company's conventionally armed B-58B Hustler and as an interim solution to the requirement that led to the North American B-72 Storm. At the heart of the F-106E was the AN/ASB-13 all-weather blind-bombing nav/attack system, which for risk reduction and haste was based on the AN/ASB-12 nav/attack system of the North American A-5 Vigilante. Based on the two-seat F-106D tactical fighter trainer, the F-106E had the missile bay area converted to fuel tankage, the ordinance being mounted on triple ejector (TER) or multiple ejector (MER) racks carried on inner-underwing or centreline pylons. It was powered by a 24,500 lb thrust J75-P-19 turbojet. The RF-106F was a high-speed all-weather photo and radar reconnaissance plane with the more powerful 29,500 lb thrust Pratt & Whitney J75-P-5W turbojet. The F-104J was an export interceptor for Japan with AIM-4 and AIM-7 missiles and an internal 20mm Vulcan cannon.




The F-106G was a development of F-106E that featured the improved AN/ASB-13C nav/attack system and J75-P-5W engine. The F-106G Mystic River was a top-secret sub-version of the F-106G customised to engage time-sensitive and mobile targets in denied airspace (principally at night) as part of the DAMIT program.  The Mystic River version of the F-106G lacked flight controls in the rear seat, this gear being replaced by controls for additional avionics. Initially considered a mere post-production modification of the F-106G, the Mystic River would become the F-106H (codenamed Mystic Mission) when it was contracted as a production line model. The full-spec F-106H added several additional navigational and communications features to the basic F-106G avionics suite, including:

- AAA-4B Pave Mouse mounted under the nose, which was an AAA-4 IRST modified to detect and track IR and ultraviolet navigation and targeting beacons
- Pave Cut astronavigation system (star tracker) mounted under a bulged, retractable fairing ahead of the cockpit
- Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver to home in on the emissions of DAMIT "surface activity sensors" and covert radio navigation/targeting beacons.
- Comfy Chime secure radios for communication with special forces
- LORAN-C radio navigation receiver
- Pave Tile reconnaissance pod built by Texas Instruments with a downward-looking infrared linescan sensor and Q-band sideways looking reconnaissance radar with a moving target indicator mode. The pod's nose and tail cones carried a "threat emission alert and location system" (TEALS, otherwise known as a RHAWS - Radar Homing And Warning System). Pave Tile's sensors could be monitored from the cockpit and the pod was usually only carried by leadships.

The otherwise similar The Pave Club pod was also carried by the F-106H Mystic Mission. Pave Club featured a nose-mounted infrared (IR) and low-light level TV (LLTV) cameras, plus a laser rangefinder, but this proved to be unreliable and had poor image quality and was not the aircrews' pod of choice. The definitive targeting pod carried by the Mystic Mission was the Pave Splinter, which combined side looking radar with IR and LLTV cameras with a laser rangefinder and laser designator for the delivery of Paveway laser-guided bombs. This became available in February 1968 and was more reliable than the Pave Club.

Other sensors and pods carried by the Mystic River and Mystic Mission jets during their combat deployments between 1964 and 1971 included Pave Crow (to detect vehicle ignition systems), Pave Fire (LLLTV), Pave Light (laser illuminator pod with a direct viewer) and Pave Sword (pod-mounted laser seeker). Many of these systems were carried as technology combat evaluations and were issued in small numbers. Various ECM pods were carried, including the ALQ-87 and (as seen here) the ALQ-101.




The Mystic Mission planes gave up some internal fuel in the former missile bay to accommodate the black boxes for this extra kit. To more than make-up for the displaced internal fuel a 600 US gallon fuel drop tank could be mounted under the fuselage, this usually being carried in combination with bombs, napalm or cluster bomb units arming the inner underwing pylons. AIM-9 Sidewinders were usually carried by the Mystic Missions (except by the leadships).




The front and rear cockpits of the Mystic Mission aircraft were significantly reconfigured to make room for the varied control panels, screens and boxes associated with this plethora of additional equipment. In his autobiographical article Mystic Mission: Nocturnal Interdiction Across North Africa (Wings, Vol. 39, No.2), Major Gordon Roberts (Retd.) recounted his experiences flying the F-106H Mystic Mission as a rear seat Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) during Operation Olympic Shot, the DAMIT campaign against Red nocturnal movements across North Africa. He commented that the "cockpit was an ad-hoc crazed puzzle of lights, switches, buttons, dials, screens that were a nightmare to operate at night just feet away from probable death. Unfortunately, half of it was junk." Apparently, DAMIT worked well in the exercise areas of Arizona and Nevada, but the necessary coordination between special forces and aviators frequently broke down, some equipment proved unreliable under field conditions and even the most covert systems were soon compromised by the Reds through jamming, spoofing and the deployment of decoys.



Operation Olympic Shot presented many challenges and required close coordination between a wide range of air and ground assets. US Army and Marine Corps special forces were used to monitor enemy movements and call-in USAF attack aircraft to engage convoys and significant troop movements. They used several covert navigation, pathfinder and target marking technologies to aid the aviators, including infrared, ultraviolet and radar reflecting beacons. Additional air support for the attackers included EB-66B and E Destroyers for EW, KB-66B "combat air refuelers", EC-121J Warning Stars for AWACS services, plus EF-106G for SEAD and F-106C or F-4C or Ds for fighter top cover.




This F-06H Mystic Mission is kitted for an Olympic Shot leadship sortie. It carries the Pave Tile pod on the centerline, six Briteye MLU-32/B99 balloon-borne 5 million candle power flares on a MER and an SUU-23/A 20mm Vulcan cannon pod (the internal cannon having been removed on the F-106H to make way for fuel and mission equipment. It was the task of the leadship crews to be on scene first and identify the target, illuminating it with the flares for follow-up attack ships. The Vulcan pod could be used to initiate an attack, to (in the words of Major Gordon Roberts) "evaluate the validity of a target (the Reds used many decoys)" and to suppress ground fire. It was also used for air-to-air self-defence on several occasions and was credited with three air-to-air kills, including a Hip helicopter. The F-106H attack ships were armed with Mk 82 bombs, BLU-1 napalm tanks and a variety of cluster munitions and mines. They were also used to drop the various acoustic, magnetic, seismic and smell sensors that formed electronic detection corridors for Olympic Shot.




Operation Olympic Shot and the entire DAMIT program was of questionable value. Although promoted as a successful military campaign and as a cutting-edge technology scheme, much of the technology was unreliable and, in general, under-performed in combat. There were also questions raised about the high costs in lives and money spent to destroy trucks and engage infantry at considerable distances from the front. Nevertheless, the program continued, albeit under different names, until 1979.





Although the aircrews involved in Olympic Shot have been portrayed as an elite of swashbuckling fighter jocks (most notably in the Frederick E. Smith's 1987 book Dare Raiders and the movie and TV series of the same name that followed), many of the 34th Bomb Squadron's personnel during the late '60s were retreads. The pilot of Mutha, Captain Joseph Motherwell, was a former C-135A and KC-135A pilot and Weapons Systems Operator Major Gordon Roberts was a former EC-47P electronics operator who then qualified as navigator on EC-47Ps, RC-130Bs and KC-135As. What they lacked in combat experience they made up for in flight hours, technical skills and maturity.

[PR19_Kit]

SUPER job there, that looks SO right. 

[Scotaidh]

 

Nice build, and great write-up.   

[NARSES2]

Very neat build and backstory 

[McColm]

Well done 

[Captain Canada]

Cool story, weapons load, camo.....and I love the two-hole Delta's that Convair made. Is that 48th scale ? Who's kit is that ?

[chrisonord]

That is really awesome, 
Chris

[kerick]

Now that is something completely different! Well done!

[TheChronicOne]

Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah buddy!!!!!  Very nice to see something from the Century Series and this is very well done!

[comrade harps]

Cool story, weapons load, camo.....and I love the two-hole Delta's that Convair made. Is that 48th scale ? Who's kit is that ?

It's the Trumpeter 1:72nd scale F-106B kit. I've had the idea for an F-106B-based all-weather bomber for years and finally, Trumpeter made it in my scale.

The pod is an EMI Phantom recce pod with the under-nose fairings shaved off in order to provide a minimum of ground clearance. The flares are Lepus flares from a Harrier kit with the tail fins cut off to resemble the shape of the American flares.

Thanks for your kind words, it's appreciated

[zenrat]

Noice.

[sandiego89]

Fantastic! A belly photo (turn the model upside down) would be great if you have one.

[comrade harps]

Fantastic! A belly photo (turn the model upside down) would be great if you have one.

Note the considerable number of chaff/flare dispensers in the under-wing fairings:

[Old Wombat]

Great idea. Great build. Great camo scheme. Great!

[Dizzyfugu]

Very nice!!