Osprey - COM 143 - F3DEF-10 Skyknight Units of the Korean and Vietnam Wars.pdf

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

SKYKNIGHTS OVER KOREA

CHAPTER TWO

COLD WAR ELINT

CHAPTER THREE

‘WHALES’ OVER VIETNAM

APPENDICES

COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY

CHAPTER ONE

SKYKNIGHTS OVER KOREA

he Douglas F3D Skyknight entered service in December 1950 as the US

Navy and US Marine Corps’ first carrier-based jet nightfighter. Given the

demanding specifications for what became the Skyknight, the design, by Ed

Heinemann, was surprisingly conventional, with straight wings, low-profile

engine nacelles tucked in close to the fuselage and a tail that looked more at

home on a World War 2-era medium bomber than a jet fighter.

A well-weathered F3D-2 from VMF(N)-513 ‘Flying Nightmares’ flies just above a solid

undercast over South Korea. The unit proved the Skyknight’s prowess as a nightfighter with a

6-to-1 kill ratio (Jim

Sullivan Collection)

The F3D featured a wide fuselage to incorporate the Westinghouse

AN/APQ-35 radar system, consisting of two different radars mounted in

tandem in the Skyknight’s cavernous nosecone. Installed at the rear of the

nosecone was the large dish for the AN/APS-21 search radar, used for

detecting and tracking targets, with the smaller AN/APG-26 gun-laying radar

dish mounted in front of it. Under optimal conditions, the AN/APS-21 could

detect targets up to 20 miles away, while the AN/APG-26 could lock on to

targets up to 2.25 miles ahead. Additionally, the Skyknight carried an

AN/APS-28 tail warning radar with a ten-mile detection range – a system that

would prove critical in the dark skies over North Korea.