Originally posted in 2020:
Last week, I came across an announcement that Scott O’Grady had been nominated by President Trump to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. When I heard the news, I was transported back to my junior officer days in the mid-1990’s. If you were alive and old enough at the time, you probably remember Scott O’Grady. He came to International attention in June 1995 when the F-16 he was piloting was shot down over Bosnia. Back in those days, Scott O’Grady was an Air Force junior officer enforcing the no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the American contingent supporting of NATO’s Operation DENY FLIGHT.
“Terrain ahead. Pull up!”
It’s a command that should only be heard in a disaster movie or flight simulator. But pilots and aviation experts say such warnings have been increasingly sparking alarm in cockpits as bogus signals from global positioning satellites hit commercial flights.
Continue reading “How electronic warfare is sowing confusion in cockpits”
In the spring of 1975, as the South Vietnamese military crumbled under North Vietnamese attacks, a relative handful of NSA employees m Saigon continued to provide SIGINT support to the Americans still m country, mostly m the U.S. embassy.
Continue reading “Bittersweet Departure: The Final Days of NSA in Saigon”
DEFSMAC Mission
Although little known to the public at large, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Special Missile and Aerospace Center (DEFSMAC) serves in the forefront of U.S. missile and space intelligence. The Center coordinates the collection of intelligence information on foreign missiles and satellites from the ground, from the sea, and from aerospace based upon intelligence requirements. The Center personnel then analyze the initial collection results and provide intelligence reporting based on the information.
Continue reading “Defense Special Missile and Aerospace Center (DEFSMAC) Established, April 27, 1964”
PIRAZ (Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone), more commonly known by the callsign “RED CROWN,” was the most important station given to ships of the Cruiser/Destroyer force and was responsible for control of Navy airstrikes against North Vietnam. RED CROWN frequently controlled Air Force strike packages as well, and many USAF pilots preferred working with RED CROWN, a testament to the professionalism of whatever ship was assigned such duties.
Continue reading “PIRAZ “RED CROWN””
April 21, 1926 – September 1, 2009
The AEGIS Weapon System (AWS) is a centralized, automated, command-and-control (C2) and weapons control system that was designed as a total weapon system, from detection to kill. The heart of the system is the AN/SPY, an advanced, automatic detect and track, multi-function phased-array radar. This high-powered radar is able to perform search, track and missile guidance functions simultaneously, with a track capacity of more than 100 targets. The first Engineering Development Model (EDM-1) of the SPY-1 was installed in the test ship USS NORTON SOUND (AVM 1) in 1973.
Continue reading “Remembering RADM Wayne E. Meyer “Father of Aegis””
Station HYPO 