As always, click on the image below to see the picture at 100% or view it at
my DeviantArt page.
The B-51G was the designation assigned to sixteen B-51Bs that were modified as night intruders for use in Vietnam under a project known as
Tropic Moon. Late in 1967, three of the 3rd Bombardment Group's B-51Bs were experimentally fitted with a pod-mounted low light level television system. Operational trials with this equipment took place in Southeast Asia between December 1967 and August 1968, mostly over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The results of the trials were sufficiently encouraging that the USAF awarded a contract to Martin and Westinghouse to modify 16 B-51Bs as night intruders under the designation B-51G.
Early in 1969, the Westinghouse sensor system was installed in a new nose section designed by Martin. The new nose contained a low light level television camera plus a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) set and a laser guidance system. This new equipment was operated by a specialist sitting in the rear cockpit. The relevant information was fed by the system operator into the pilot's cockpit so that he could select the appropriate combination of weapons to attack the target. The laser guidance system now made it possible to carry four 500-lb "smart bombs" on the exterior of the rotating bomb bay door. The modified aircraft were redesignated B-51G, and they were easily recognizable by their bulbous "chins" that contained the low light level television equipment.
The first B-51G was taken on charge by a reactivated 13th Bomb Squadron at MacDill AFB in Florida in July of 1969. The 13th Bomb Squadron deployed to Ubon in Thailand with eleven B-51Gs in September of 1970. When it arrived there, it became part of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing. Four B-51Gs remained at MacDill AFB for conversion training with the 4424th Combat Crew Training Squadron. They went into action over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. They used laser-guided smart bombs, often achieving an accuracy of 15 feet.
Only one B-51G was lost in Southeast Asia, in a tragic midair collision at night with an O-2 Skymaster FAC over southern Laos on 12 December, 1970. Flying B-51G 53-3931 was squadron CO Lt Col Paul Pitt and WSO Lt Col Ed Buschette, who was the 13th BS's chief sensor operator. The men believed that they had been hit by anti-aircraft fire, and flying conclusion. Ejecting near Ban Vangthon, the pair spent a terrifying night on the ground within earshot of enemy troops, before being airlifted out the following day from separate hiding places.
In the event,
Nail FAC O-2A 67-21428 of the 504th Tactical Air Support Group, flown by 1Lt Thomas Allen Duckett with observer Maj Owen George Skinner, failed to return to its base at Nakhon Phanom that night. The following day the mostly intact wreckage of the O-2 was found on the ground. It was reported that emergency radio contact was made with someone in the area, but neither man was ever found. It is possible that their survival radios were taken by the enemy in an attempt to 'sucker' rescue forces into the area. Both men remain listed as missing.
And here's a closeup of the new nose that I made for the B-51G variant. It has the radar and LLTV, along with lots of little antennae on the top and bottom of the fuselage. You can see 13th Squadron's mascot, Oscar, on the nose. Yes, apparently the Grim Reaper's name is Oscar.
Cheers,
Logan
