PIRAZ

PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone.cite web|accessdate=2008-08-16
url=http://www.history.navy.mil/seairland/glossary.htm
title=Glossary of Abbreviations and Terms
work=By Sea, Air and Land: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy and the War in Souteast Asia
date=26 October 1997
publisher=Naval Historical Center, United States Navy] [Lockee, April 1969, p.143] The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station. The PIRAZ ship requires a Naval Tactical Data System radio-linked computer installation to effectively process the number of aircraft anticipated to utilize zone airspace during combat. [Lockee, April 1969, p.143]

History

The concept originated in the summer of 1966 as Yankee station was established for United States Task Force 77 aircraft carriers launching strikes against North Vietnam. [Cagle, May 1972, p.68] A fixed patrol station within range of land-based aircraft made the stationed aircraft carriers vulnerable to attack. [Lockee, April 1969, p.143] A PIRAZ station was established in the westernmost portion of the Gulf of Tonkin where air search RADAR coverage might extend over North Vietnam and the air-strike routes from Yankee station. [Smith 1998 p.180] This PIRAZ station radio call sign was "Red Crown." [Futrell, et. al. 1978 p.14] The first PIRAZ ships were USS King (DLG-10), USS Mahan (DLG-11), USS Long Beach (CGN-9), and USS Chicago (CG-11). [Lockee, April 1969, p.143] Belknap class cruisers began rotating into PIRAZ station assignments in 1967; [Lockee, April 1969, p.144] and USS Wainwright (CG-28), assisted in the Son Tay Raid [Gargus, p.168] on 21 November 1970. These PIRAZ ships carried long-range RIM-2 Terrier or RIM-8 Talos surface-to-air missiles to defend their stations. Each PIRAZ ship was accompanied on station by a "shotgun" destroyer with guns to defend the PIRAZ station ship from torpedo boat attack. [Cagle, May 1972, p.90] PIRAZ ships provided protective RADAR surveillance of the remotely piloted vehicles performing aerial photo reconnaissance of North Vietnam. [Parker, August 1984, pp.39&42]

Combat Information Center

The PIRAZ ship Combat Information Center (or CIC) was continuously manned by 35 to 40 officers and men watching RADAR displays, updating position and identification information for NTDS computers, and maintaining radio communication with aircraft and other ships. [Lockee, April 1969, p.144] Some CIC personnel acted as air traffic controllers providing either advisory control or close control. [Lockee, April 1969, p.145] Close (or positive) control occurred when the controller provided specific altitudes, courses, and speeds to the pilot. [Lockee, April 1969, p.145] Personnel providing positive control are called Air Intercept Controllers (AIC). [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97] Advisory control simply offered advice concerning proximity to operating area boundaries, nearby air traffic, or known Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) or Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) sites. [Lockee, April 1969, p.145]

"Chicago"s CIC included a secret signals intelligence (Sigint) team using modern electronics to evaluate very weak electromagnetic radiations from North Vietnamese aircraft or SAM sites. The team could transfer real time Sigint information to PIRAZ air controllers. [Ethell & Price 1989 p.28] "Chicago" AICs monitored up to 50 North Vietnamese MiGs simultaneously. [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97] On the Tonkin Gulf PIRAZ station, successful AICs concentrated on providing threat information, collecting and sorting tactical information as it developed, and informing the CAP about the threat location and activities while letting aircrews deal with bearing drift and controlling their headings. [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97]

Combat Air Patrol

Ships on PIRAZ station mounted the air search RADAR closest to enemy airfields and were best positioned to offer RADAR information to Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps fighters. [Mersky & Polmar 1981 p.192] Combat Air Patrols (or CAP) were typically under advisory control, and would come under positive control when being vectored to hostile aircraft detected by the PIRAZ ship. PIRAZ shipboard air controllers would also provide positive control for aircraft requiring in-flight refueling. [Lockee, April 1969, p.146] Gulf of Tonkin barrier CAP (BARCAP) routinely refueled; and CAP involved in an engagement usually returned with a low fuel state requiring emergency refueling. [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97] Three "Chicago" AICs assisted 52 declared emergency refueling situations for Air Force aircraft in a single day. [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97] Preferred procedure turns the tanker aircraft in front of the low fuel state aircraft to minimize search and maneuvering fuel consumption while allowing the fighter to continue away from hostile territory. [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97] In some cases, damaged aircraft with leaking fuel tanks can be saved by continuous refueling from rendezvous to landing. [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97]

Chief Operations Specialist Larry Nowell, controlled more than 1500 intercepts aboard "Mahan" and "Chicago", [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97] and became one of the best known PIRAZ air controllers of the Vietnam War. [Mersky & Polmar 1981 p.192] Chief Nowell provided air control information for more than 100 live engagements with enemy aircraft [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97] including 25 percent of intercepts leading to destruction of North Vietnamese fighters in 1972. In August 1972, Chief Nowell became the second enlisted man in Navy history to be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. [Smith 1998 p.62]

earch and Rescue

One PIRAZ shipboard air controller was designated as "flight follower" for each Navy or Air Force formation of strike aircraft to track the strike's progress and offer information required to complete the mission. [Lockee, April 1969, p.146] Flight followers worked with as many as 24 aircraft on a single frequency. [Nowell, April 1986, pp.95-97] PIRAZ ships had the most recent position information for downed aircraft, and were often the closest surface force to a crash site. All PIRAZ ships were equipped with landing platforms for SH-3 Sea King "Big Mother" or SH-2 Seasprite "Clementine" armored helicopters for Search and Rescue (SAR) work. [Cagle, May 1972, p.68] [Glickman, September 1972, pp.90-92] PIRAZ shipboard air controllers could provide positive control for SAR aircraft; [Bowman 1985 p.429] and PIRAZ ships could provide on-deck refueling service for Navy and Air Force helicopters. [Lockee, April 1969, p.146]

Notes

References

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* Gargus, John, "The Son Tay Raid: American POWs in Vietnam Were Not Forgotten", Texas A&M University Press, 2007
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External links

*cite web|accessdate=2008-08-16
url=http://www.uss-king.com/piraz.shtml
title="PIRAZ - An Unclassified Summary Of PIRAZ (1968)
author=Lockee, Captain G. E.
date=1968