[Milsurplus] ARC 65 and ARC 21, plus ARC-38 and 38A

[Mike Morrow]

Francesco wrote:


>Did the 618T replace the ARC-65 in the B-52.  If so, was the 618T moved
into
>the pressurized compartment?


The higher-power, lighter-weight AN/ARC-58 won out and by the late 1960s
current B-52s and KC-135s had AN/ARC-58s.  The T-605()/ARC-58
amplifier/power supply could be placed in either a pressurized or
unpressurized case, so the pressurized AN/ARC-65 had no advantage in that
respect.  In KC-135 aircraft, the T-605()/ARC-58 would be in a pressurized
compartment, and thus the T-605() was used with an unpressurized case.  B-52
installations used the pressurized case.

I doubt that the 618T-series was used much by the USAF SAC.  It is a
lower-powered set.  There were several military versions of the 618T.  The
US Navy used a version called the AN/ARC-94, often side-by-side with an
older AN/ARC-38A in the same aircraft.  The US Army used a similar set under
the tag AN/ARC-102 (even some UH-1 "Huey" helicopters carried one in the
Vietnam era).  Both were unpressurized, but there was a pressurized version
called the AN/ARC-105, IIRC.

73,
Mike / KK5F