Skyscrapers
Israeli High Altitude Photo Reconnaissance Operations Described
Article by Yo'av Rosen
Tel Aviv Bit'on Heyl Ha'avir (Israel Air Force magazine), Internet Version http://www.iaf.org.il in Hebrew 01 Aug 2001
For more than three decades now the Air Force has been carrying out high-altitude photography missions using Phantoms manned by the best and most senior pilots and navigators. Because of the low barometric pressure at those heights, 60,000 feet and more, the crew members have to wear space suits that protect their bodies from the extreme flight conditions but make flying difficult. Nevertheless you will never find a pilot who does not want to fly this mission, considered one of the most prestigious in the service. Even today, about thirty years after their absorption, the photography planes still constitute one of the Air Force's most unique means for gathering intelligence.
It took almost twenty minutes for Lt. Col. Iti, commander of the "Bat" squadron, to squeeze into his orange space suit, officially a "high altitude flight suit". This was not because Lt. Col. was taking his time. It was simply the average time required to put on the awkward suits that allow Air Force pilots to carry out a unique mission: high altitude photography.
Since the mid '60s the Air Force has been carrying out high altitude photography flights at 60,000 feet and more, altitudes at which the barometric pressure is so low that there is a vital need for such suits, the same ones used by the astronauts in their space missions. The details of these missions, by their very nature, are classified. Nevertheless one famous incident is recalled that ended in a bailout. Two weeks after the end of the Yom Kippur war, on 9 November 1973, a "Bat" squadron crew took off for a routine photo sortie over Egyptian territory. Their goal was to determine to what extent the Egyptians were abiding by the cease-fire agreements and not moving their forces in the field. The pilot Gid'on Shefer, today a major general (reserves), and the navigator, Ofer Tzidon of blessed memory, had taken their Phantom up to a height of 48,000 feet.
A salvo of SA-2 missiles was launched at them during the sortie. One of the missiles hit the plane and the two of them were forced to bail out. Ofer Tzidon, the navigator, was killed during the course of the bailout. Later it was suggested that his death might have been caused by his space suit exploding as a result of the sharp pressure change that occurred when the canopy opened. Shefer, the pilot, bailed out and landed with both hands wrenched from their sockets as a result of the blow he suffered upon ejection from the plane, and fell into Egyptian captivity. This was the first and last time that an air crew member bailed out while dressed in a high altitude suit. Without it, no doubt, he would have had no chance of suvival.
Higher, farther
The "Bat" squadron, that now has more than three decades' practice in high altitude photography, was started in 1956 as a combat squadron in low visibility conditions. After operating Meteors and Vautours, used for interception and daytime and nighttime attacks, it was revived as a Mirage squadron in 1964. That year, with the arrival of two of the first photography planes, the squadron began to carry out sorties throughout the Middle East, at both high and low altitudes. As a squadron that operated the unique planes, it was tasked with lots of photography operations.
The planes were equipped with a camera called "Crossword," that had a rotating head and five photography angles, a modern technology for the Air Force in those days. Other cameras, for photographing at various altitudes, were installed in the nose of the planes.
Two models of photography Phantoms have been absorbed into the Air Force since 1969, the year in which the first of those planes arrived in Israel: the RF-4E and the ES. The RF-4E, designed specifically for photography, was the first to be absorbed into the Air Force. In this model the cannon was removed and replaced with several cameras and sensors that allowed the plane to carry out tactical patrol missions both in the daytime and at night. The RF-4Es generally fly armed only with air to air missiles for self-defense, but when necessary, can also do air to ground attacks. Planes of this model, by the way, also fly in the Air Forces of Iran, Turkey, Greece and Germany.
In 1976 additional photography Phantoms, known professionally as ES, were absorbed into the squadron, providing important additional capability in the realm of aerial photography: bias photography. In these planes the nose was significantly extended for the installation of a special camera, the HIAC-1. The HIAC-1 camera was developed in the U.S. and manufactured in limited quantities. Most of the cameras manufactured were absorbed in the "Bat" squadron. Additional improved cameras, for flights in various scenarios, were brought in later. Even today, about thirty years after their absorption, the photography planes constitute one of the Air Force's unique means for gathering intelligence. As part of the Din ve Heshbon [Operation Accountability] and Invey Za'am [Grapes of Wrath] operations in Lebanon, for example, the "Bat" squadron carried out more than 200 attack and photography sorties.
The HIAC-1 camera installed in the nose of the plane and used for high-altitude photography, "is of very high quality," says Lt. Col. Iti, the squadron commander and one of the pilots qualified to carry out high altitude flights. "The camera allows us to do very long range photography. The higher you go, the farther you can photograph." Such high altitude photography is possible because of the special suits, which are, in fact, space suits. "It is a matter of very special qualification in the Air Force. The squadron specializes in every possible air to ground mission and maintains the largest number of qualifications in the Air Force, but the crown jewel is the high altitude flights. This is a very high quality capability in terms of the ability to do long distance photography at a range of tens of kilometers at very high resolution. It is considered very unique even within the squadron, and everyone wants to do it."
The altitude record: 73,400 feet
The high altitude photography is carried out "as needed", according to Lt. Col. Iti, the squadron commander, "and everywhere". With regard to the period of the Air Force's intensive activity in Lebanon, he says, the frequency of the sorties stayed the same.
High altitude photography sorties are mostly carried out at around 60,000 feet, despite the fact that this figure is variable and can change according the nature of the mission. The squadron's altitude record is 73,400 feet. In photography flights carried out below 50,000 feet there is no need for space suits. At those altitudes, the standard pressure suits are sufficient. The Phantom, known for its high armament-carrying capability and its ability to fly very far, can carry out those sorties only when it carries fuel drop-tanks to reach those long distances. "You can carry fuel drop-tanks and you can do aerial refueling. At high altitude you generally fly fast so your fuel consumption is high," Lt. Col. Iti explains. "Of course you can fly lower, at 30,000 or 50,000 feet, and thus stay in the air longer and go farther. It depends on what your mission is and what the requirements are for the sortie. In any case, when the plane carries drop-tanks, you can go anywhere."
Apart from the awkwardness created by the bulky space suit, the flying is relatively simple. "You cannot carry out very sharp maneuvers in the plane," says Lt. Col. Iti, "but, in general, that is not required. In the past there were incidents in which missiles were launched at the planes or where there was a need to evade hostile aircraft. But in general the flight is not complicated. Indeed, we are not talking about complicated air combat with radical changes in G forces, but because of the space suit and because it is an operational activity that requires skill, it is not simple either. You have to know how to be careful, how not to go into places you should not go, or if you have to go, then only under certain conditions. There were, of course, high altitude missions that were real experiences not to be forgotten, but we cannot go into that in any more detail."
The additional plane that goes out on the sortie with the photography plane performs its task in accordance with the mission: sometimes to provide cover, sometimes on a tandem photography mission. "The crew members of the second plane will not always be in high altitude suits," Lt. Col. Iti continues. "It all depends on the flight. Sometimes we send more than two planes for high altitude photographing. We have already done all the various combinations you can imagine." Upon landing, the film rolls are taken for development to the laboratory on base and then sent for interpretation to the intelligence people."
The crew members who carry out the high altitude flights are selected according to their flight rating and experience," Lt. Col. Iti explains. "Pilots will be chosen who were already leaders in the past and who have experience. Over the years this is THE qualification of the squadron, whether in war or peacetime, and the prestige that goes along with it is commensurate."
Amazingly the process of training the crews for high altitude photography flights is not long. These are, after all, experienced air crews, leaders in their field, who can rely on their past experience. "The pilots who are selected to accomplish such missions already have a certain maturity. They have already acquired experience of the plane and therefore carry out just a limited number of high altitude training flights in order to get to know the feeling. In the rear seat sits a crewman who is already trained for the mission and actually guides them," Iti explains. The jump into deep water, so to speak, is done immediately afterward in the performance of operational photographic sorties.
In contrast to the rest of the squadron's planes, that underwent a series of improvements in the Air Force to the Qurnas 2000 model, the photography planes are an older model. "Certainly older systems in them have been replaced with newer ones, but basically they are the same old Phantoms. Therefore they are more complicated to maintain than the Qurnas 2000. They have to be maintained for many years, which is not simple," said Iti.
"Nevertheless," he continues, "surprisingly, despite the Air Force's newer planes, the Phantom has shown a level of serviceability that is among the highest in the Force. There are things that cannot be explained, but, in fact, this is the situation. The squadron's technical wing people work around the clock to prepare the planes, which may be the reason why. It is a very reliable, powerful plane, its significant advantage being that it is a two-engine plane, of which the only other example in the Air Force is the F-15. But the F-15s perform other missions and cannot carry out this kind of mission as top priority."
A cockpit within a cockpit
Along with the first high altitude photography planes the Air Force also got the astronaut suits. Instead of the old white suits that were replaced at a certain stage because they had become obsolete, the new suits are very striking because of their orange color. These suits, also used for manned space flight missions, as we noted earlier, cost $120,000. The suit, the purpose of which is to maintain the body's environment at the pressure prevailing at ground level, does its job by means of venting tubes and air pockets installed in it, which are what provide the crew member's protection. "The pilot's body is completely separated from the cockpit and the environment outside the plane," explains Lt. Col. Iti. "At high altitude, the boiling point is very low, the depressurization is great, and therefore everything tends to expand immediately. At such altitudes, if you are exposed to the radical pressure differential between that of the body and that prevailing outside, the capillaries will explode and your blood will boil within seconds. In a flight at normal altitude, the compression in the cockpit and the infusion of oxygen protect you. In high altitude flights, those means are insufficient and you in fact need a cockpit within the cockpit, which is the suit."
Adjacent to the squadron's underground shed there is a dressing room for the crew. That is where the equipment required for these flights is kept, starting with the space suits, helmets and shoes all the way to the underpants, undershirts and socks that the crew members wear under their suits. Master Sgt. Ariq Busira, who has served in the base's aerial maintenance squadron for 19 years now, is the expert in this. He is the one who helps the crew members get into their awkward astronaut suits, and he is the one who performs the final checks before entering the plane.
"Before the first high altitude flight," Ariq relates, "the suit is fitted to the crew member in the air medical unit. Within a high altitude chamber, the same chamber used to examine those selected for the flight course, that simulates the atmospheric environment at different altitudes, the crew member 'ascends' to an altitude of 70,000-80,000 feet in order to see if the suit inflates properly and provides the required protection."
The suit exists in 12 different sizes and is composed of four layers that isolate the body from the external environment. "One of the layers, that is particularly flexible, is responsible for protecting the suit even when it is inflating," Ariq explains. The helmet that connects to the suit is made of molded fiberglass and is manufactured in just one size, but its inner lining can be adjusted to the head of each crew member. The helmet's visor contains fine threads running its entire length, the purpose of which is to act as a defogger just like those embedded in car windshields.
While Ariq is dressing Lt. Col. Iti, it is obvious that he is working at least as hard as Iti, who, at the end of the process, will have covered himself with close to 11 kg of dressing equipment. The suit's gloves, for example, are put on with the aid of a vacuum cleaner that was invented by Ariq. First he sprinkles talc inside the gloves, and then the sucking action pulls the gloves into the suit and creates a vacuum. "The gloves have to fit exactly, otherwise movement during flight will be difficult," he explains. The shoes that Lt. Col. Iti wears are standard air crew shoes, but they are two sizes too large in order to contain the special suit socks that cover the sole of the foot.
After he connects Lt. Col. Iti to an air tank like the one in the cockpit, he turns on the microphone in the suit. As in video clips filmed during space flights, Lt. Col. Iti's breathing can be clearly heard, and he indicates that all is okay. Iti's movements are heavy and awkward. Afterward Ariq turns the air on into the suit all at once to be sure for the last time, before going up into the plane, that it really does inflate.
"A few years ago I visited David Clark, the factory near Boston that manufactures these suits," Ariq relates. "This factory has existed for more than 60 years. It is the exclusive manufacturer of the suits and also supplies them to NASA. This was a great experience. They show visitors suits that were in space in the 60s."
When the process is complete, after close to twenty minutes, the beads of sweat on Ariq's face clearly demonstrate the effort involved. Lt. Col. Iti, inside the suit, maintains a serious countenance. He begins walking toward the plane with awkward movements inside his orange space suit. "Just like in 'Armageddon'," says Ariq.
