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  • SA-2 Surface-to-Air Missile

    Developed in the mid-1950s, the V-750 Dvina was the first effective Soviet surface-to-air missile. The Soviets used it to shoot down Gary Powers' U-2 over the USSR in 1960 and Maj. Rudolph Anderson's U-2 over Cuba in 1962. The missile was better known by the NATO designation SA-2 Guideline. The

  • M117 General Purpose Bomb

    The M117 is a 750-pound general purpose bomb that can be employed in several different configurations. The basic M117 dates from the Korean War and uses a low-drag tail fin for medium and high-altitude deliveries. The M117R (Retarded) uses a special fin assembly providing either high-drag or

  • LAU-3 Rocket Launcher

    The early Wild Weasels (and the accompanying F-105Ds) employed the reusable nineteen-shot LAU-3 rocket launcher to attack SAM sites. The F-100Fs typically carried two LAU-3s while the F-105Ds carried four. The LAU-3 could fire its 2.75-inch rockets individually, rapidly in sequence or all at once.

  • Rockwell International GBU-8 Electro-Optical Guided Bomb

    The GBU-8 Electro-Optical Guided Bomb was one of the "smart bombs" that revolutionized aerial warfare. A standard bomb fitted with a Homing Bomb System (Hobos), the GBU-8 was first used during the Southeast Asia War.In 1967 the Department of Defense asked Rockwell International Corp. to develop the

  • DShK-1938/46 Heavy Machine Gun

    A Deadly "Sweetie" Used by communist forces in Southeast Asia, the Degtyarov-Shpagin Krupnokaliberny (DShK) machine gun presented a deadly threat to low-flying aircraft-like the Forward Air Controllers (FACs). Sometimes called Dushka (meaning "Sweetie"), they could be mounted on armored vehicles or

  • Texas Instruments BOLT-117 Laser Guided Bomb

    The BOLT-117 (BOmb, Laser Terminal) was the world's first laser-guided bomb (LGB). Used by U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantoms in the Southeast Asia War, it consisted of a KMU-342 laser guidance and control kit attached to a standard, M117 750-pound bomb. The guidance system and control fins were adapted

  • AGM-78 Standard Antiradiation Missile

    Originally developed by the U.S. Navy, the Standard ARM possessed several improvements over the earlier Shrike. It could be launched from outside the range of the SA-2, with the missile guiding on the radar energy like the earlier Shrike (in fact, the first AGM-78s used Shrike seeker heads). The

  • Martin Marietta AGM-62 Walleye I

    Although designated an air-to-ground missile (AGM), the Walleye was actually an unpowered glide bomb with a nose-mounted television camera to guide it to the target. The Walleye's camera sent an image of the target to the pilot's television screen. Once the pilot "locked" onto the target, he

  • AGM-45 Shrike Anti-Radar Missile

    Originally developed by the U.S. Navy from the Sparrow air-to-air missile, the anti-radar AGM-45 Shrike homed on and destroyed radar emitters. The Shrike gave Wild Weasel crews a limited standoff capability, and it remained an important anti-radar weapon until the end of the Southeast Asia

  • Martin Marietta AGM-12C Bullpup B

    The AGM-12C was a larger version of the Bullpup air-to-ground radio-guided missile. It was carried by U.S. Air Force F-4 and F-105 fighters during the Southeast Asia War.The AGM-12C entered U.S. Air Force service in 1965 and carried a 1,000-lb semi-armor-piercing warhead. The pilot or weapons system