[ARC5] What did they talk to?

[David Stinson]

AirRadio wrote:

 > To use the scr-522 and have repeaters is absurd as there would have
 > to be repeaters in occupied territory and therefore not feasable....

Max makes a good point I hadn't considered.
I have no doubt AN/ARC-10 existed at some level
and that it was used at some time.  My argument is
that the system was not "SOP" or widely deployed.
If it were, we'd have a lot more than a passing
reference or two and a couple of witnesses.
I think the witnesses are absolutely telling the
truth, but that their experiences were not general.
Such a set-up would actually have made sense in the
fast-advance environment at the close of the war,
when direct comm between the pilots and headquarters
would have been more efficient and all the territory
between HQ and the target was in Allied hands.
Trying to orbit a couple of "repeater" planes
to cover raids on Berlin before that time
would have been suicide;
you'd have to fix an aircraft in one position
for a long period over enemy-held territory.
He'd be a "sitting duck."
D.S.