The Hellenic Air Force retired its McDonnell Douglas RF-4 Phantom IIs on 5 May, but not before the service opened its doors to photographers and reporters to visit the type’s home base at Larissa for a final look at recce Phantoms in Greek colours.
Lt Col Dimitris Papadimitriou, with over 2,000 flight hours on the Phantom, is evidently proud of the squadron he commands, and keen to explain its history: “348 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron is one of the oldest and most historic squadrons in the Hellenic Air Force. It was set up initially as 348 Tactical Reconnaissance Fligh under the 112 Combat Wing in 1953.”
Back then, it was operating with F-84G aircraft which had been altered to perform tactical recce missions. Two years later 348 Flight became a Squadron, called 348 Mira Taktikis Anagnoriseos (MTA, Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron) ‘Mátia’ (‘Eyes’), and was provided with RT-33 and later RF-84F aircraft.
Lt Col Papadimitriou also explains why there are two visually distinct sets of RF-4E Phantoms operating in the squadron. “In 1979 The RF-4E aircraft entered the inventory of the 348 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. They were new aircraft supplied by the USAF, and served with the same [brown and green] camouflage pattern they were delivered in. In the summer of 1993, the Hellenic Air Force received 27 more RF-4E aircraft from the German Air Force, which had a much more dark green camouflage pattern, and these were not repainted.”
An ex-German RF-4E in the darker camouflage takes to the sky
Analog aircraft in a digital world
The RF-4E Phantom II is designed for tactical reconnaissance. One of the squadron’s instructor pilots, Captain Nik Sofologis, call sign So’ph’os (meaning ‘wise man,’ with special emphasis on the ‘ph’ for Phantom!) talks about the cameras: “The RF-4 is an old aircraft which uses analog cameras that record frames on black and white film. When you see the aircraft, you’ll notice three glass panes near the nose, two on each side and one on the bottom. Those are the three camera stations.” Combinations of photographic equipment can be equipped, depending on the mission. Two of the camera types are built by CAI, the KS-87B classic camera, and the KS- 127A Long Range Oblique Photography (LOROP) camera. For panoramic views, KA-56E cameras are used for low altitude, and KA-91B for high altitude. For specific day or night missions, near-infrared AAD-5 cameras can be used.
The 66-inch (1676-mm) LOROP camera in particular impresses Captain Sofologis. “It’s a big camera, it takes all the stations. It was used to take strategic pictures from a great altitude… I can remember 35,000ft (10,668m). We can get great pictures with good ground resolution. We are able to zoom in very far, and find in the frame what we need.”
An RF-4E is marshalled out of its shelter at Larissa
The digital successor
After retirement of the RF-4, reconnaissance tasks will be performed by F-16s equipped with recce pods. Captain Sofologis tries to make a comparison between the RF-4, and the Goodrich DB-110 digital reconnaissance pod under the F-16: “It is fully autonomous with the ability to take long range photos. Images are recorded on a solid-state hard drive. It is great because it can take pictures in the infrared spectrum using electro-optical sensor technology during night or day operations to see extra details on targets that we need.”
But still, explains So’ph’os, the RF-4 has an advantage over the F-16: “In the F-16 you must plan the exact route on the ground and you have to follow that specific route. When I get to a specific waypoint on my route, the camera opens automatically and shoots photos from these areas, like a box with overlaps.” This means the F-16 does not have flexibility with the cameras the way the RF-4 does.
In the RF-4, the co-pilot is primary user of the camera, and he can operate the camera to take the pictures at the point he wants. “The backseater is the main operator of the cameras. The pilot in front has two means of detecting where he’s taking pictures. In front there is a viewfinder, and on the sides you had circles. If the target you wanted was inside the circle, that is the frame. In the Phantom, we can take a photo of anything we want.”
With the F-16 and the DB-110 recce pod there is a possibility to send low-resolution images via data link to a ground station. For full resolution pictures, however, the aircraft must land and download the files, as these are too large to transfer wirelessly.
The RF-4 has been in service for a very long time, and it is getting harder to operate in a modern environment. Captain Sofologis states: “Generally speaking, it is a great aircraft, but the big disadvantage is that it lacks electronics. Nowadays, we are trying very hard to follow new tactics with the 2nd generation Phantom, while a large part of the Air Force uses 4th generation aircraft. If you want to use the RF-4 to the limits, you must try very hard.”
An RF-4E in the original brown-and-green camouflage seen trailing a brake parachute
Missions
The primary role of 348 Squadron is to perform tactical reconnaissance according to the needs of all three branches of the Hellenic military. “The experience from recent combat situations has shown that the success of modern operations does not depend on the amount of armed forces, but on the effective combination of methodical and efficient reconnaissance,” says Squadron Commander Lt Col Papadimitriou. “The ability to perform reconnaissance missions gives substantial strategic advantage to a country by providing invaluable information for mission planning and target recognition. The planning of combat attack missions largely depends on the amount of information collected by aircraft during recce missions.”
Recce missions can also be flown to provide battle damage assessment after strike aircraft have released their weapons to a target. “After a specific time we take photos for further analysis about the functionality of the attack and destruction of the target,” says Captain Sofologis. “The purpose of the photos is for our staff to see if an extra group of forces has to re-attack this specific target or if we achieved the desired effect on the target.” Lt Col Papadimitriou adds: “During critical periods the 348 TRS is the first Squadron to depart and the last to land.”
The unit also carries out missions to the benefit of social services such as photographing fires. Captain Sofologis recalls one of those missions: “There was a wide spread fire the civil officers wanted to see where the border line of the fire was, so with our cameras we were taking pictures, making a mosaic of the area. In two hours after the landing they had a clear image of the interest area.”
Another use for the RF-4 was finding water: “The IR camera had the opportunity to help in finding water in some areas that didn’t have enough water. In one city, it was very helpful.”
But the RF-4 had an electronic warfare task too. Making use of the ASTAC pod, an airborne electronic reconnaissance system, emissions from land-based radars and weapon systems could be intercepted and analysed. With the ASTAC pod, targeted radar emitters could be located and identified precisely and quickly in order to prepare future strikes. Captain Sofologis clarifies: “We were using trigonometry to find the geographic position of the emitters. It was a useful tool to extract the electronic order of battle of the enemy.” Another non-recce assignment of the RF-4 Phantom was the dispensing of aluminum chaff via the ALE-40 dispensers. “We would make corridors to jam enemy radars to produce false targets, or to damage or obscure the enemy’s radar picture in order to blind or distract the enemy.”
Pre-flight checks underway on an RF-4E, with two of the three camera apertures clearly visible on the nose
“Beautiful Experience”
When pilots are asked about the experiences they have had in the recce Phantoms, they smile. “We are famous for low level flying. Low level navigation is the only way for the RF-4 to avoid detection by enemy radar, so the ground is our friend. Personally speaking, we have a lot of beautiful experience from low level navigation.” They all love the Phantom very much, and are sad to see them go. Lt Col Sofologis remembers: “When I was younger, I was very impressed by what our cameras could do, and how much the Air Force was based on this aircraft. So much intel about enemy forces could be gathered. I was also impressed, because it’s great to think that an aircraft that was designed in the 1950s has all these opportunities. It can take pictures traveling up to 600 miles an hour from altitudes up to 30,000 feet. Captain Sofologis is not alone: the RF-4s will be missed by pilots and enthusiasts alike!
F-16s equipped with DB-110 pods (not pictured here) will replace the RF-4E in the recce role
Text: Jeroen van Veenendaal Photos: Roelof-Jan Gort and Jeroenvan Veenendaal