[Milsurplus] R-388/51J use
Ray Fantini
RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu
Fri May 25 09:18:20 EDT 2012
The AN/GRC-26 A and B model were supposed to have R-388 receivers installed, don't know about the C but the D version had R-390A receivers installed. I remember seeing this in the manual for the 26 and although I have seen many AN/GRC-26 systems I have never seen one with anything other than the 26D configuration. Almost wonder if any of the A, B or C variants were ever fielded? Always thought of the R-388 and 51J receivers as the intermediate stage between the WW2 junk and the R-390. With the R-390 being produced in the early fifties and the R-390A coming on line 54/55 cannot imagine any agency purchasing the R-388/51J stuff after that time period except maybe just a cost concern or possibly as a ELINT receiver until the 51S1 came on line in the early sixties but in almost every ELINT operation I know of in the seventies they used R-390A receivers. So I will propose that the R-388/51J stuff was only fielded for a short period of time and was displaced in any mission critical role with an R-390/A as soon as possible. Cannot account for the large number that have been showing up at Dayton the last couple years unless we are seeing the end results of the receivers that were distributed thru surplus and given out thru MARS and are now surfacing?
RF
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