The B-57E (Martin Model 272E) was a target-towing version of the B-57B. The initial requirement for the target-towing version of the B-57 was laid down on March 16, 1954. The goal of the program was to replace the B-26 and B-45 aircraft that were still acting as target tugs. A firm decision on the B-57E was not made until January of 1955. 68 B-57Es were ordered under Letter Contract AF33(600)-29645, dated Jan 4, 1956.
The B-57E differed from the B-57B in having target towing equipment carried inside the aircraft in place of the usual bombs. The bomb bay door carried the towing reel equipment. There were four 1500-lb reels mounted on the inside of the door, having their centerlines running parallel with the fuselage. The towing reels had to armor plated, since a snapped cable could whip around the drum within the thin skinned aluminum fuselage and under the volatile fuel tanks and do a lot of damage. The bomb bay door could not be opened when this equipment was in place and had to be lowered to the ground for servicing.
A modified tail cone was provided for carrying the towed target banners. The banners were stored folded up inside two long canisters mounted on the lower surface of the rear fuselage. These canisters extended from just aft of the bomb bay all the way to the tip of the tail cone. Up to four banners could be carried, one for each of the reels.
The B-57E had a hydraulic power-boosted rudder to improve directional stability. It allowed a reduced single-engine airspeed of 135 knots. The aircraft carried two rotating beacons, and had a larger tail skid.
The rear crewmember acted as the tow-target operator, with tow reel control equipment replacing the Shoran bombing system. The B-57E carried no armament and no bombing equipment, but either could be added without difficulty. The target containers, internal cable reels and fittings, and the cockpit towing controls could be removed and the E could quickly be brought up to B status and be made combat capable.
The first production B-57E flew on May 16, 1956. The last of 68 B-57Es was delivered in March of 1957. Most of them went to the Air Defense Command, but a few went to the Air Force Flight Test School. The first unit to receive the B-57E was the 17th Tactical Training Squadron at Yuma AFB in Arizona. This squadron later moved to MacDill AFB in Florida. The 3rd TTS was formed at George AFGB in California. The 1st TTS operated at Biggs AFB in Texas, and the 4756th TTS was based at Tyndall AFB in Florida. Six B-57Es went to the 6th TTS at Johnson AB in Japan in mid-1975. the 6th TTS was inactived in late 1957, and their B-57Es were reassigned to a flight of the 8th Bomb Squadron of the 3rd Bomb Wing at Johnson AB. A squadron of B-57Es was stationed at Wheelus AB in Tripoli, Libya to provide European-based USAF fighter squadrons with live firing exercises.
The B-57Es could operate at altitudes over 40,000 feet, providing much more realistic combat training than was possible with piston-engined target towing aircraft. B-57Es were usually painted in bright orange on their upper surfaces and were silver underneath. The target banner was launched by having the cable drum draw in a short amount of cable that was threaded out through the tail grommet and attached to the forward end of a folded-up target banner carried inside the canister. Once the target banner was drawn out of the canister, it unfurled in the airstream and the cable drum extended it out to about 5000 feet behind the aircraft.
The early fighter interception exercises were carried out with F-86D Sabre, F-94C Starfire, and F-89D Scorpion interceptors firing 2.75-inch Mighty Mouse unguided rockets. As a safety measure, the fighters would not fire on the target banner until cleared to do so by the tow-target pilot after he could confirm that the fighter was locked onto the towed banner and not onto the towing aircraft. When the firing exercise was over, a chase plane would close in on the banner and count the number of holes in it. Following the scoring, the banner was pulled back by the reel system inside the B-57E to within a few feet of the tail. Hydraulic cutters then severed the towing cable and released the target, which fell into the ocean below the firing range. A second target could then be launched, followed by a third or fourth if there was a requirement. However, firing exercises with two targets was usually all that there was time for in a typical mission, and two of the four reels were usually removed to save weight.
As interceptors firing heat-seeking Falcon missiles became available, the target towing mission of the B-57E became obsolete, and the B-57Es were adapted to electronic countermeasures and faker target aircraft. Following a new electronics fit in the 1960s, the target-towing B-57s were redesignated EB-57E. These specially-equipped EB-57Es were operated by Defense Systems Evaluation Squadrons (DSESs). There were a number of these units based in the US and at a few overseas locations. Eventually, most were absorbed into two squadrons of the Aerospace Defense Command. The last of these squadrons finally relinquished its EB-57Es in 1982.
In order to cover combat losses in Vietnam, twelve B-57Es were reconfigured as combat-capable B-57Bs at the Martin factory in late 1965 and were deployed to Southeast Asia for combat.
In 1963, the General Dynamics plant at Fort Worth, Texas was awarded a contract to modify two B-57Es as all-weather reconnaissance aircraft. The forward nose section was modified to house a KA-1 36-inch forward oblique and a low panoramic KA-56 camera. Mounted inside the specially-configured bomb bay door was a KA-1 vertical camera, a K-477 split vertical day-night camera, an infrared scanner, and a KA-1 left oblique camera. The modified aircraft were redesignated RB-57E. Four more aircraft were subsequently modified.
The RB-57E aircraft were assigned to a secret project known as Patricia Lynn that operated out of Tan Son Nhut airport in Saigon. I am told that the lead engineer of the project was given the option of naming the program, so he chose the name of his wife. Beginning in May of 1963, the Patricia Lynn unit flew nighttime reconnaissance missions to identify VC base camps, small arms factories, and storage and training areas. Beginning in 1965, Patricia Lynn crews began flying bomb damage assessment missions into Laos teamed with B-57B bombers and a C-130 flare ship. A sixth Patricia Lynn aircraft (55-4257) joined the team in 1968, this one equipped with terrain-following radar. There were frequent changes and updating of the equipment, including the installation of 12-inch focal length KA-82 and 24-inch focal length KA-83 cameras. The infrared equipment was useful in spotting Viet Cong river traffic at night along the Mekong delta southeast of Saigon. In 1969/70, Patricia Lynn missions were flown into Laos and into Cambodia. The Patricia Lynn operation was terminated in mid-1971.
Serial numbers of B-57E:
55-4234/4301 Martin B-57E-MA
Sources:
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American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner, Doubleday,
1982.
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Post World War II Bombers, Marcelle Size Knaack, Office of Air Force
History, 1988.
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Martin B-57 Canberra--The Complete Record, Robert C. Mikesh,
Schiffer Military/Aviation History, 1995.
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United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough
and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989
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Canberra: The Operational Record, Robert Jackson, Smithsonian
Institution Press, 1989.
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The English Electric Canberra Mk.1 and IV, K. Munson, Aircraft
In Profile, Doubleday, 1969
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E-mail from Larry Champion with origin of name Patricia Lynn
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United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and
Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
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E-mail from John Withers on contract number for B-57E.
- E-mail from Tom Hildreth.
