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Draken International Wants To Be Your New Aggressor Squadron

Bill Walton
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Draken International Wants To Be Your New Aggressor Squadron

Draken International, sometimes referred to as “The World’s Largest Private Air Force”,  is a defense contractor formed in 2011 offering flight training, threat simulation, airborne adversary support, electronic warfare support, aerial refueling, research, and testing services to military and civilian aerospace firms. Draken provides air-to-air and air-to-ground tactical training and support, air-to-air refueling, and fleet missile defense training. They own a fleet of more than 80 tactical aircraft, including 30 Mig-21 Fishbeds, 21 Aero L-159E Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (LACA)s, 14 Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, 9 Aermacchi MB-339CBs, and five Aero L-39 Albatroses. Many of these aircraft have unique 4th generation threat simulation capabilities including fire-control radars, radar warning receivers, training missiles, and electronic attack equipment.

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Photo Credit: Draken International

Draken acquired several A-4Ks from New Zealand. These Kiwi Skyhawks had already been upgraded under Project Kahu with the APG-66v7 fire control radar along with Radar Warning Receiver (RWR), Heads-up Display (HUD), Hands On Throttle and Stick (HOTAS), and Multi-Function Displays (MFD). This all means that the Draken A-4Ks emit an electronic signature similar to the Air Force’s Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) F-16 Vipers. Equipped with the latest data bus technology, they can also employ the current generation of laser targeting and electronic attack and warfare pods and deliver them on target. The Draken Skyhawks can also pass and take gas from “buddy store” aerial refueling equipment.

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Draken A-4s with F-35 and F-16 via US Air Force

Retired, reserve, or Air National Guard US Air Force (USAF), US Navy (USN), and US Marine Corps (USMC) tactical jet pilots fly Draken’s tactical jets. These guys and gals all have patches from the USAF Fighter Weapons School or TOPGUN or USAF Aggressor Squadrons or USN/USMC Adversary Squadrons or, well…you get it. They’re qualified. Many of them have even commanded USAF or USN or USMC Squadrons, Groups, or Wings.

Draken has worked with each of the US military branches as well as several foreign air forces. The video was produced by the US Air Force in 2015 and talks about Draken’s unique capabilities and qualifications during an evaluation performed at Nellis Air Force Base.

 

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The Most Complex Gear Ever Built For An Airlifter Is A Work Of Art And A Maintenance Challenge 

Bill Walton
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The Most Complex Gear Ever Built For An Airlifter Is A Work Of Art And A Maintenance Challenge 

When Lockheed engineers began work on the massive C-5A Galaxy during the mid-1960s they faced a myriad of aerospace design challenges:

  • The weight of the aircraft itself- even when empty.
  • Flex in the wings, the fuselage itself, and the extended T-tail.
  • How to utilize the space above the cargo hold.
  • Pressurization of thousands of cubic feet of space in that cargo hold.
  • Access to the cargo hold itself.
  • Internal dimensions of the cargo hold required to haul specific pieces of equipment.
  • Engines with enough thrust to make the entire aircraft worth building in the first place.

Answers to these and hundreds of additional challenges were found during both development and use of the Galaxy over the last 47 years. New wings, new engines, and new cockpit avionics have all been or are being fitted to the C-5 fleet. Of the 131 C-5s originally built by Lockheed about 100 of them are still in service.

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Photo Credit: Rob Schleiffert

One of the most interesting facets of the C-5’s design is its landing gear. Built to support a maximum takeoff weight of 840,000 pounds (that’s 420 tons to you and me), it consists of a single steerable nosegear strut and four main gear bogeys mounting a total of 28 wheels. The complex system can be a maintenance challenge but it allows for use on rough or unpaved surfaces, castoring to improve ground handling and maneuvering, and originally had the ability to “crab” for crosswind landings that has now been eliminated.

In order to simplify tire changes or brake maintenance, each set of wheels can be retracted individually. The C-5’s landing gear assembly also has a three-position “kneeling” system, which can be utilized to lower the aircraft’s cargo floor down to truck-bed height and reduce the angle of entry to the forward or aft ramps.

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Bonus Video:  Listen to those TF-39s whine as a C-5 takes off. Watch those landing gear spin!

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Bonus Video 2:  Another TF-39-equipped C-5 takes off- shot from a unique perspective…look at those doors flapping!

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Elon Musk Invites You To Take A Quick Flight Through SpaceX’s Falcon Rocket Factory

Mike Killian
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Elon Musk Invites You To Take A Quick Flight Through SpaceX’s Falcon Rocket Factory
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Falcon-9 production floor at SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, CA. Photo Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX is blazing a trail forward for sustainable and reusable commercial spaceflight at an impressive pace. They’ve launched several missions this year, once on a reused booster even, and also employed a used Dragon spacecraft on their most recent cargo mission to the ISS for NASA earlier this month (CRS-11).

But the company is now landing their rockets too, like clockwork almost, and they are aiming to do it again next Monday afternoon, June 19, after they use another reused booster to launch the BulgariaSat-1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The company is also preparing to fly their highly anticipated Falcon Heavy for the first time later this year, a mammoth triple-barrelled version of their Falcon 9, and company owner Elon Musk released a new video via his Instagram page today (June 16) showing off the company’s “Falcon Factory” at their headquarters in Hawthorne, CA.

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First used to launch the initial wave of ‘Iridium NEXT’ satellites last January from Vandenberg AFB, CA, the rocket launching next Monday will also become the first booster to launch missions on both coasts.

Landing on the company’s offshore drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” should occur shortly after, but previous attempts have been met with mixed success. With the exception of three drone ship landing failures in January, March and June 2016, six returning rockets have landed successfully on the drone ship; the most recent instance being March 30th for the SES-10 mission.

Drone ships are used when the mission being launched requires so much fuel there isn’t enough left for a landing attempt back near the launch site.

Liftoff of BulgariaSat-1 is scheduled for Monday, June 19 at 2:01pm EDT, you can watch it live HERE.

 

– Follow Mike Killian on Instagram and Facebook, @MikeKillianPhotography 

 

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Boeing’s Newest Jets Go ‘Near Vertical’ In Practice Performance Before Paris Air Show

Avgeekery
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Boeing’s Newest Jets Go ‘Near Vertical’ In Practice Performance Before Paris Air Show

Ok, so it’s not REALLY near vertical…but it is some damn impressive and aggressive flying by professional pilots flying Boeing’s newest jetliners.787737 9

For the past few years, Boeing has put together amazing summer air show routines.  In preparation for each year’s performance, Boeing also has put together incredible videos documenting the practice with cinematic flair. It started with the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 videos.  Then last year, Boeing added an impressive 737 MAX performance.  This year, the new stretched 787-10 and 737 MAX have teamed up to wow audiences again at the Paris Air Show.

The Boeing 787-10 is the longest and largest of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.  The first flight of the -10 took place on March 31, 2017.  The 787-10 has 95% commonality with the 787-9.  It is designed to replace earlier versions of the 777 and A330 along with the A340.  Singapore Airlines will take delivery of their first -10 in early 2018.

Also featured in the video is the Boeing 737 MAX.  The latest version of the venerable 737 fleet includes new engines and winglets that combine to give operators 13% more efficiency than the earlier ‘Next Gen” models.  The 737 MAX featured in this video is the -9 version.  The -9 first flew earlier this year.  It’s shorter sibling, the -8MAX was recently delivered to its first airline customer last month.

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Marines Kick the Tires and Light the Fires In This New Red Flag-Alaska Footage

Bill Walton
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Marines Kick the Tires and Light the Fires In This New Red Flag-Alaska Footage

United States Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 (VMFA-251) Thunderbolts conduct pre-flight checks and start-up of a Boeing Martin F/A-18C Hornet during exercise Red Flag-Alaska (17-2) at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Alaska. VMFA-251 is a part of Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31) based at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort in South Carolina. VMFA-251’s heritage goes all the way back to commissioning as Marine Observation Squadron 251 (VMO-251) on December 1st 1941 at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island at San Diego in California. VMO-251 flew Grumman F4F Wildcats during the first couple of years of World War II in the Pacific. They transitioned to the Vought F4U Corsair in 1944 and were re-designated VMF-251 in 1945.

F 4S VMFA 251 at MCAS Cherry Point 1985

For the Korean War the Thunderbolts flew Douglas A-1 Skyraiders. When the squadron transitioned to North American FJ-4 Furies in 1956 they were re-designated again, this time to VMF-251. They began flying the Vought F-8 Crusader from MCAS El Toro in California in 1958. Then in 1961 they moved to MCAS Beaufort in South Carolina and deployed to NAS Guantanamo Bay in Cuba after the Bay of Pigs invasion.

When the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II went into Marine Corps service the re-designated VMFA-251 was one of the first squadrons to transition to the new jet. For the next 21 years VMFA-251 flew the F-4 until transitioning to the McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) F/A-18A Hornet in 1985. The Hornet in the video carries two AGM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) on its port outboard wing station and an AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening imaging/targeting pod on its centerline station.

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Lima Lima Flight Team Excites Crowds Over Atlanta Airshow

Charles Atkeison
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Lima Lima Flight Team Excites Crowds Over Atlanta Airshow

ATLANTA, GA — The precision flight of the Lima Lima Flight Team performed over the Good Neighbor Day Airshow on Saturday exciting huge crowds in attendance as they witnessed the maneuvers performed by the pilots of yesterday and today.
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Their four yellow Beechcraft T-34 aircraft soared over the Peachtree-DeKalb Airport on June 10 as they transitted from right to left before the crowd as the lead pilot radioed “smoke-on”. Seconds later, the team began their climb into a forty-five degree angle straight up aginst the cold blue sky. It is their diamond formation — four planes flying as one just a few feet apart — which gave over 12,000 guests reason to applaude and cheer.

Designed by Walter Beech in 1949, the Beechcraft T-34A was built as a primary trainer for the Air Force and Navy as the jet age began. The Air Force contracted them right away and flew with them during the 1950’s. Meanwhile, the Navy continued flying the T-34 until 1972. Today, the military and even NASA use the single prop aircraft for different reasons.

Airshow Enthusiasm

“As a former Navy captain, I understand the incredible pride it takes to put multiple aircraft in the sky and into a syncronized plan in the sky,” said Lima Lima’s slot pilot Roger “Fritz” Fritzler from PDK’s flight line on Saturday. “Formation is a lot of fun and to do it in an aerobatic routine is even more fun — it just brings it to another level trying to stay precise in the same piece of sky.”
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The team’s origins began forty-one years ago, thrilling crowds with formation flying in the midwest of the United States. Today, they are slowly performing at new show sites on the east coast and the southeast. Fritz, who joined Lima Lima in 2013, added this was their first visit to Atlanta, and they look forward for a possible return trip next year.

The four pilots for the 2017 and 2018 seasons include lead pilot Skip “Scooter” Aldous, Steve “Hoss” Smith, Mark “Enigma” Miller, and “Fritz” Fritzler. All four pilots carried early asperations of wanting to fly during their youth — three of them later entered military service and piloted top military aircraft.

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As the four pilots stood together in conversation, they carried a tone of excitement as the prepared for an afternoon flight. Each with a positive tone about flying, discussing with a few airport officials how stongly they want to encourage today’s youth about the many fields of aviation.

“We want to make spectators excited and enthusiastic about aviation,” said “Scooter” Aldous as he stood near his yellow Beechcraft sporting the word ‘Navy’ on its fueslage. “We try to make our performance exciting, we want to hear a lot of ohhhs and ahhh’s coming from the crowd.”

Scooter added that the team performs every maneuver before the crowd at each show. From take-off to landing, Lima Lima stays in front of the guests in attendance.

Two Aerobatic Teams Soar Together
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During the airshow weekend, the four pilots of Lima Lima joined with their brothers of Team Aeroshell to perform an eight plane close formation flight over Stone Mountain. The historic Georgia landmark is located east of Atlanta and just a few minutes by flight south of Peachtree-DeKalb Airport.

Following a preflight briefing between the two teams, Lima Lima took off first in finger tip formation from runway 21, gained altitude, and Fritz then maneuvered his number 4 aircraft into the slot position to form the diamond. Aeroshell then departed two minutes later and manuvered in the same fashion to form their own diamond.

This aerospace journalist flew along with Fritz to record the rare event as the two aerobatic diamonds flew in formation with the skyline of Atlanta in the close distance. Great weather greeted the aircraft as two teams set up for the formation over the park.

Following one practice pass in front of the massive granite mountain, the Lima Lima Flight Team and Team Aeroshell went smoke-on and performed a beautiful pass before Stone Mountain. On the headset, the pilots of each team were calm, but as the teams separated from one another the conversation was one of ecstatic chatter and goodwill.

Images: Charles A. Atkeison and John Willhoff
(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @Military_Flight.)

Special KLM Livery Celebrates The End of Cityhopper Fokker F-70

Bill Walton
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Special KLM Livery Celebrates The End of Cityhopper Fokker F-70

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has had a close relationship with the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker for 97 years. KLM is the oldest airline in the world that still uses its original moniker. Some of their first airliners were Fokker F.II and F.IIIs. Of course KLM has also used the majority of the Douglas DC-X series airliners, every Boeing 7X7 type, Lockheed Constellations, Airbuses, and various DeHavilland and Convair aircraft as well. But over the first 19 years of KLM’s storied history their aircraft were almost entirely Fokker aircraft, ranging from the original F.II through the F.XXXVI.

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Photo Credit: Anthony Hisgett

As far as Regional equipment is concerned, KLM Cityhopper and the other KLM Regional subsidiaries have flown Fokker F-50s since 1991, F-70s since 1995, and F-100s since 1991. Embraer 175 and 190 aircraft have replaced the F-50 and F-100 over the years. The only Fokker aircraft currently in KLM service are Fokker 70s, the last of which are due to be replaced in October of 2017.

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Photo Credit: KLM Cityhopper

The final farewell for the Fokker F-70 will feature tributes to Anthony Fokker and KLM’s relationship with the pioneering Dutch aviator, designer, and manufacturer. The last Fokker 70 in service has received a special commemorative paint scheme with a portrait of Anthony Fokker on the vertical stabilizer and special graphics on the fuselage.

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Photo Credit: KLM Cityhopper

Fokker was known as the “Flying Dutchman.” In 1910 as a young man he designed and built The Spider- his first airplane. Fokker went on to build and test-fly many more of his own designs. An entire series of passenger airplanes, much later referred to as airliners, were his most enduring contribution to aviation, but he also designed and built several of the German Air Force’s fighter aircraft used during World War I. Fokker was the inventor of the synchronization device that allowed machine guns to be fired through the propeller arc while in flight.

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Photo Credit: KLM Cityhopper

Fokker moved to America during 1926. He lost no time building up another division of his company, called Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, in the United States. After a few successful years in the business he sold his American aircraft plants to General Motors, which renamed them the General Aviation division of General Motors. Anthony Fokker passed away in 1939 at the age of 49. He was a true aviation pioneer and his designs became famous and were used the world over. It was a Fokker F.VII that United States Navy Lieutenant Commander Richard E. Byrd and Machinist Floyd Bennet flew over the North Pole during May of 1926.

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True #Avgeek Challenge: How Many Navy Planes Do You See In This Film?

Bill Walton
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True #Avgeek Challenge: How Many Navy Planes Do You See In This Film?

Test Your Aircraft Recognition Skills With This 1970 Navy Film

“Flight:  The Romance of Naval Aviation” is a film produced by the United States Navy (USN) and distributed in 1970. With no narration but a fusion jazz music accompaniment, the film’s footage was shot aboard the Midway-class aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CVA-43), the Forrestal-class aircraft carriers USS Forrestal (CVA-59), USS Constellation (CVA-64), and USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63), the Essex-class carrier USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) and the training carrier USS Lexington (CVT-16) as well as during what appears to have been many hours of air-to-air shooting from at least one F9F-8T Cougar. Some of the footage was shot during Western Pacific (WestPac) deployments of these carriers. Also included is some footage of the Blue Angels flying their F-4J Phantom IIs.

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Included in the film is footage of front-line carrier aircraft operating from the boat featuring McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, Vought F-8 and RF-8 Crusaders along with A-7 Corsair IIs, Douglas A-3B and KA-3B Skywarriors, A-4 Skyhawks, and A-1 Skyraiders, and North American A-5 Vigilantes. Grumman A-6 Intruders, North American FJ Furies, Grumman S-2 Trackers, Lockheed P-3 Orions, McDonnell F3H Demons, and Sikorsky SH-34 Seabat and SH-3 Sea King helicopters are all included. Naval Air Training Command (NATC) aircraft are also well represented, with Lockheed T-1A Seastars, Grumman F-11F Tigers, North American T-28 Trojans and T-2 Buckeyes, Grumman F9F-8T Cougars, Beechcraft T-34 Mentors, and Bell TH-13L helicopters all there. In fact, counting the single glimpses of an E-2 Hawkeye, a Kaman SH-2 Seasprite, and a C-1 Trader on deck, there are 26 types of aircraft in the film. Did I miss any? Let me know.

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Powerful Engine Gave Crew a Chance at Ejection By the Skin of Their Teeth

Bill Walton
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Powerful Engine Gave Crew a Chance at Ejection By the Skin of Their Teeth

Sometimes the Bears Eats You, and Sometimes You Eat the Bear

On 12 June 1999 Sukhoi test pilot Vyacheslav Averynov and navigator Vladimir Shendrikh took to the skies in the shiny new Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI Flanker-C  demonstrator “Blue 01” on opening day of the 43rd Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport.

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The jet was the latest word in Russian vectored-thrust air-superiority fighter aircraft. Near the conclusion of the demonstration, as the fighter was descending during a downward spiraling maneuver, before Ayerynov could pull out and with afterburners blazing, the tail of the jet hit made contact with the ground. Even though the aircraft was nearly out of energy and the left engine was en fuego, the jet was still able to pull away from the ground and stabilize long enough for the crew to successfully eject. The aircraft then pancaked into the ground on the infield and went up in flames. Fortunately nobody was hurt.

Su 30MKI 6 Vitaly V. Kuzmin
Photo Credit: Vitaly V. Kuzmin

The Su-30 is a development of the earlier Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker. The primary differences between the Su-27 and the Su-30 are the thrust-vectoring engines in versions after the Su-30 MKI and that the majority of the Su-30 models are two-seaters. Notable developments of the Flanker family include the MKI with canards and thrust vectoring for Russian and India, the MKA with different avionics for Algeria, the MKM for Malaysia, the and the SM for Russia herself. Operators of the 14 distinct version of the Su-30 family include Algeria, Angola, the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the Russian Federation, Uganda, Veneuela, and Vietnam. In the video there is an interview (in Russian I think) going on during part of the video but almost all of the demonstration flight is shown.

C-130 Hercules Has Always Found a Way to “Hack the Mish”

Bill Walton
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C-130 Hercules Has Always Found a Way to “Hack the Mish”

The C-130 Hercules Has Been There and Done That for Longer Than Most of Her Pilots–Hack the Mish!

The Lockheed C-130A Hercules first became operational on June 12th 1956 with the United States Air Force (USAF) 463d Troop Carrier Wing at Ardmore Air Force Base (AFB) in Oklahoma and the 314th Troop Carrier Wing at Stewart AFB in Tennessee.

These initial early-model “roman nose” Hercules and “thimble nose” C-130Bs also equipped six more Troop Carrier squadrons as part of the 322nd Air Division in Europe and the 315th Air Division in the Far East.

Need a Job Done? Count On a Herc To Do It

Beginning a long tradition of adaptation and specialization, some C-130As were modified for electronic intelligence work, operating from Rhein-Main Air Base in Germany over and sometimes behind the Iron Curtain and designated EC-130A.

Still more C-130As were modified and designated RC-130As. These first reconnaissance Hercs were assigned to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) photo-mapping division.

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Official US Air Force Photograph

The Most Modified Airlifter

The C-130 Hercules went on to become one of the most versatile and adaptable airframes ever developed. There have been standard “vanilla” C-130 airlifters and “trash haulers”, C-130s modified and equipped with skis to operate in arctic conditions, C-130s modified to become flying radio and television stations, C-130s modified to communicate with the nation’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, C-130s modified to aerial refuel other probe-equipped aircraft and helicopters, and C-130s adapted for use as search and rescue support and command aircraft.

There have been at least seven different gunship versions for close-air support equipped with all manner of weaponry and precision sensors.

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Official US Air Force Photograph

Sneaky Hercs

Hercs have flown into hurricanes and typhoons to gather storm data, controlled all manner of aerial drones, flown airborne early warning and control, electronic eavesdropping, and jamming missions, and inserted and supported personnel behind borders and enemy lines by flying we-were-never-there, nap-of-the-earth ingress and egress routes.

C-130 Hack the Mish…all different kinds of ‘Mish-es’

C-130s do aerial firefighting, recover spy satellites and their “take”- there are even Hercules tankers that can be converted to gunships on the spot and back again after mission completion. C-130s have been flying for the United States Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard for more than 60 years- and they’re still going strong.

They also serve with scores of foreign countries and several civil operators. It’s a pretty good bet that C-130s have visited every country on the planet at one time or another. It all started on June 12th 1956.

Forgotten Video Highlights How Air Power Turned The Tide Against The Axis War Machine

Bill Walton
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Forgotten Video Highlights How Air Power Turned The Tide Against The Axis War Machine

Long lost archive from the Air Force in 1953 highlights the ways that airpower changed the game in WWII.

During the second half of 1943 the Allies were beginning to turn the tide against the German U-Boats and seeing successes against them using long-range airborne anti-submarine patrols using radar-equipped Consolidated B-24 Liberators. When the Army Air Forces turned these aircraft over to Navy crews late in 1943 the aircraft were re-designated PB4Y-1s. One result of these successes was that American-built fighters like Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and North American P-51 Mustangs were getting through to their bases in England, eventually to take on the Luftwaffe over occupied Europe.

Curtiss P 40Fs near Moore AAF 1943

In the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI) supplies were being flown by the fledgling 10th Air Force from Tibet over “the hump” of the Himalayas to General Claire Chenault’s needy 14th Air Force “Flying Tigers” in China. In the Aleutian Islands the 11th Air Force was slugging it out with and winning against the Japanese invaders on Attu and Kiska Islands.

In the Southwest Pacific the offensive against Japanese-held Munda on New Georgia took place. Many of the missions against Munda were flown from Henderson Field on recently-secured Guadalcanal. Once Munda was taken the Army Air Forces and the Marines used the airstrips in the area to launch missions against the next objectives up the Solomon Islands chain in the overall offensive known as Operation Cartwheel.

The video is a transfer from volume 12 of a 1953 film series produced by the US Air Force.

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Hunting Submarines From The Air Hasn’t Changed A Whole Lot in 50 Years

Bill Walton
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Hunting Submarines From The Air Hasn’t Changed A Whole Lot in 50 Years

The US Navy promotional film “ASW To Catch a Shadow” was produced by Lockheed and the United States Navy during what the audience is led to believe was an operational readiness evaluation that took place during the early 1960s.

The film, shot aboard the anti-submarine aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CVS-10) and with lots or aerial footage included, is an excellent look at what it takes (or at least took then) to wage anti-submarine warfare (ASW); to prosecute a submerged submarine contact and the coordinated nature of the various moving parts of the forces involved. The film was shot with Pacific Fleet assets and includes interior shots of many of the aircraft and ships used in the film.

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Aircraft featured in the film include VP-6 Blue Sharks Lockheed P-3 Orion anti-submarine patrol planes and the squadrons making up Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group (CVSG)-55 aboard the Yorktown:  VS-23 Black Cats and VS-25 Golden Eagles Grumman S-2 Tracker carrier-based ASW aircraft, HS-4 Black Knights Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King ASW helicopters, and VAW-11 Detachment T Early Elevens EA-1E Guppies (Skyraiders) used for airborne early warning. The destroyers USS Leary (DD-879), USS Walker (DD-517), USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754), and the frigate USS Bridger (DE-1024) along with their DASH helicopters complete the ASW forces. Playing the role of the hunted are several different types of submarines. The film also includes some footage of the ill-fated nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589).

The clip is distributed by Periscope Film.

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