Looking Down the Corridors by Kevin Wright

Author:Kevin Wright [Wright, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780750964586
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Beyond the Corridors

Besides the Gabriel Corridor and peripheral missions conducted using ‘tactical intelligence’ platforms, other aircraft also mounted flights along the IGB and over the Baltic Sea. These included the DC-8 Système Aéroporté de Recueil des Informations de Guerre Électronique Sarigue (Opossum) ‘strategic’ reconnaissance aircraft and the SA-330 Puma Hélicoptère Électronique Technique (HÉT) that operated along the IGB.

The DC-8–33 Sarigue

A DC-8–33 (F-RAFE 45570/134) that was already serving with the AdlA was converted to the electronic intelligence role and entered service in July 1976. Escadre Électronique 00.051 (Electronics Squadron 00.051 – EÉ 00.051 Aubrac)was specifically created to operate this aircraft that was declared operational on 1 June 1977, initially flying from Brétigny before moving to Evreux in December of that year. The aircraft retained the same external colour scheme as other AdlA DC-8 transports but the plethora of bulges and aerials quickly revealed its true purpose. Like the Gabriels, the Sarigue was primarily a SIGINT platform but was also photo-capable.

The COMINT suite included VHF/UHF radios that could intercept frequencies between 20 and 500 MHz. The ELINT equipment intercepted radar emissions between 30 and 125 MHz and could intercept and locate radars using frequencies between 125 and 18,000 MHz, using interferometry antennae, mounted in wingtip fairings. The ventral radome housed antennae targeted at frequencies above 1 GHz. Photographic equipment consisted of three Omera 36 cameras in a trimetrogen mount (one vertical and two oblique) to give horizon-to-horizon coverage.32

The Sarigue’s flight deck crew consisted of two pilots; one or two radio-navigators and a flight engineer. Depending on the type of mission, the numbers of the SIGINT team could vary significantly. For European operations thirteen ELINT operators and ten COMINT operators were the usual ‘back-end’ crew, together with a camera operator seated in the left-hand rear of the cabin. The aircraft also operated in Africa, the Middle East and Indian Ocean before being retired in July 2001. Its successor, DC-8–72 (CF) Sarigue NG (New Generation) F-RAFD (46043/443), entered service on 12 April 2001 but operated for only just over three years before being withdrawn from service.

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