Lockheed EC-121D Super Constellation USAF Flag is a piece of digital artwork by Arthur Eggers which was uploaded on August 26th, 2021.
Lockheed EC-121D Super Constellation USAF Flag
The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star was an American Airborne early warning and control radar surveillance aircraft operational in the 1950s in both the... more
Title
Lockheed EC-121D Super Constellation USAF Flag
Artist
Arthur Eggers
Medium
Digital Art - Color Print
Description
The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star was an American Airborne early warning and control radar surveillance aircraft operational in the 1950s in both the United States Navy (USN) and United States Air Force (USAF). The military version of the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation was used to serve as an airborne early warning system to supplement the Distant Early Warning Line, using 2 large radomes (a vertical dome above and a horizontal one below the fuselage). It replaced the TBM-3W used by the USN. Some EC-121s were also used for Signal Intelligence gathering (SIGINT). The EC-121 was introduced in 1954 and phased out in 1978, although a single specially modified EW aircraft remained in USN service until 1982. The USAF operated EC-121s between 1954 and 1978, with 3 wings at maximum employment and 3 independent squadrons as operations wound down. Until the Vietnam War, their primary mission was to provide complementary early warning radar coverage to the Pacific and Atlantic barriers by flying orbits 300 miles offshore from the continental United States in what was termed "Contiguous Barriers". The coverage orbits overlapped those of land-based early warning radars. Initial deployment of EC-121Cs began with 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, based at Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Operational on 21 December 1954, 551st AEWCW subsequently upgraded to EC-121D and later EC-121H Warning Stars.
Uploaded
August 26th, 2021