Air Force Museum
Dart Aerial Gunnery Target
This aerial gunnery tow-target was fired upon by F-84F pilots of the 162nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ohio Air National Guard, Springfield, Ohio, during 1968 summer training exercises in Michigan. The target was towed behind another aircraft on 1,500 to 2,000 feet of cable and was equipped with a radar reflector to permit the use of radar gunsights.
In depth
History & service
This aerial gunnery tow-target was fired upon by F-84F pilots of the 162nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ohio Air National Guard, Springfield, Ohio, during 1968 summer training exercises in Michigan. The target was towed behind another aircraft on 1,500 to 2,000 feet of cable and was equipped with a radar reflector to permit the use of radar gunsights. The damage was caused by strikes from .50-cal rounds.
Readiness became a permanent condition
During the Cold War, aviation was organized around the possibility of a conflict that governments hoped to prevent. Bombers, missiles, interceptors, reconnaissance aircraft, warning networks, and tankers became parts of interdependent systems. Their value was judged not only by what they could do in flight, but by how reliably they could be maintained, alerted, launched, supported, and controlled.
This emphasis produced striking aircraft and difficult tradeoffs. Long range demanded fuel and support. High speed increased heat and mechanical stress. Sophisticated electronics offered new capabilities but created new maintenance requirements. A reconnaissance aircraft needed an effective camera and a workable route as well as altitude or speed. An interceptor depended on warning and guidance before its pilot could make an engagement.
The human experience included long periods of training and routine punctuated by crises. Crews and ground personnel practiced procedures whose purpose was to remain credible without being used in war. At the same time, military aviation carried out reconnaissance, transport, rescue, humanitarian missions, and conventional operations around the world. Linking these aircraft with civil airliners, research machines, and spacecraft reveals a history of shared technologies and different purposes. The machines embody technical accomplishment, but also the enormous resources and sustained human effort required to keep a global force ready.
