新山一空軍基地
美軍使用情形 > 第33戰術大隊 > Patricia Lynn Project

The need for additional reconnaissance assets, especially those capable of operating at night, led to a classified strategic reconnaissance project which began in May 1963.  Earlier that year, the Air Force awarded the General Dynamics company a contract to modify two B-57E Canberras (55-4243, 55-4245) as all-weather high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft.
General Dynamics was chosen to make modifications to the B-57E as it had extensive experience in modifying Canberras with the RB-57D and RB-57F projects and turning the B-57 into a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft equipped with various electronic and imagery equipment.  The forward nose section of the B-57Es were modified to house a KA-1 36-inch forward oblique camera  and a low panoramic KA-56 camera used on the Lockheed U-2. Mounted inside the specially-configured bomb bay door was a KA-1 vertical camera, a K-477 split vertical day-night camera, an infrared scanner, and a KA-1 left oblique camera. The modified aircraft were redesignated RB-57E.
The 2d Air Division was desperate for tactical intelligence and on arrival the pilots that ferried in the RB-57Es were immediately assigned to the Division as combat crews and briefed on missions by Divisional intelligence officers on the reconnaissance  flights they would make.
The first mission was flown on 7 May 1963 by the highly-classified Patricia Lynn squadron (Detachment 1, 33d Tactical Group, later 6250th Combat Support Group, later 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing) operating from Tan Son Nhut AB.  The Detachment flew nighttime reconnaissance missions to identify Viet Cong base camps, small arms factories, and storage and training areas.  The sorties yielded results that heretofore only had been wished for.
The nighttime imagery showed Communist training and base camps; small, hidden factories and storage dumps that RF-101 Voodoo crews had flown over during the day and had been unable to locate from the air.   The existing RF-101s in 1963 could only photograph a few kilometers (they had to fly very low) per flight with their cameras. The RB-57Es could image the whole border with Cambodia in 2 1/2 flights at 16,000 to 17,000 feet with superior results.
From then on, the Patricia Lynn crews both night and day missions over South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and areas of North Vietnam until 1971, being some of the last USAF tactical aircraft to be withdrawn from the country.  The RB-57Es carried the call-sign "Moonglow".  Some missions were flown at low-level over single targets, others consisted of 4-6 specific targets.  At night RB-57Es flew the canals and rivers in the Mekong Delta and southern part of South Vietnam. The sampans were easy to spot with the "real time" IR if the crew could keep over the canal which was difficult in the darkness.
The United States began Operation Steel Tiger over the Laos Panhandle and the DMZ on April 3, 1965, to locate and destroy enemy forces and materiel being moved southward at night into South Vietnam, and to fly bomb damage assessment reconnaissance runs over targets attacked in the secret war in which the United States was engaged there.  These flights teamed with B-57B bombers operating out of Bien Hoa AB and a C-130 Hercules flare ship.  Three more aircraft were subsequently modified in 1964/65 bringing the number of aircraft to five.
Two RB-57Es were lost in combat operations. The first (S/N 55-4243) was lost as a result of a fuselage fire caused by small arms while on a low level reconnaissance mission in August 1965. The crew ejected safely when near Tan Son Nhut Air Base. The second aircraft (S/N 55-4264) was lost on Oct. 15, 1968, after an engine fire started by ground fire forced the crew to eject.
A sixth Patricia Lynn aircraft (55-4257) joined the team in 1968, as a replacement for the combat losses. This aircraft had a Terrain Following Radar designed to allow the aircraft to fly at a constant altitude, which would, in theory, produce better reconnaissance photos. Unfortunately, the aircraft flew so low (500–1,000 feet) that the infrared film was used up before the entire assessment area could be photographed.
A 1968 update, under the Compass Eagle program, gave the back-seater a video display to monitor the IR scanner system. This allowed the crew to call in strikes on targets in real time, instead of having to return to base to get imagery developed, by which time the enemy would have likely moved on
There were frequent changes and updating of the equipment, including the installation of 12-inch focal length KA-82 and 24-inch focal length KA-83 cameras. The infrared equipment was useful in spotting Viet Cong river traffic at night along the Mekong Delta southeast of Saigon.
In 1969/70, Patricia Lynn missions were flown into Laos and into Cambodia including Barrel Roll strikes in 1969. The Patricia Lynn operation was terminated in mid-1971 with the inactivation of the 460th TRW and the four surviving aircraft returned to the United States.
Known RB-57E Patricia Lynn aircraft were:
Martin B-57E-MA 55-4243  Modified to RB-57E in 1963. Lost in combat with Detachment 1, 6250th Combat Support Group, when hit by ground fire Aug 5, 1965 and caught fire while on return to base.
Martin B-57E-MA 55-4245.  Modified to RB-57E in 1963.  Returned to CONUS June 1971. Converted to WB-57E.  Retired to MASDC as BM0069 Jun 15, 1972.
Martin B-57E-MA 55-4237.  Modified to RB-57E in 1964.  Returned to CONUS June 1971. Converted to  WB-57E. Retired to MASDC as BM0070 Jun 28, 1972.
Martin B-57E-MA 55-4249. Modified to RB-57E in 1964.  Returned to CONUS June 1971. Converted to  WB-57E. Retired to MASDC as BM0068 Jun 15 1972.
Martin B-57E-MA 55-4264. Modified to RB-57E in 1965.  Lost in combat with Detachment 1, 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, Oct 25, 1968 after being hit by ground fire 3 mi SW of Truc Giang, South Vietnam.  Both crew ejected safely and were rescued.
Martin B-57E-MA 55-4257. Modified to RB-57E in 1968.  Equipped with terrain-following radar.  Converted to EB-57E in 1971 and transferred to ADC 4677th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron, Hill AFB, Utah.  Retired to MASDC in 1979.