Operation Shed Light - Other Associated Programs

Other Associated Programs

Other programs were also associated with Shed Light, either coming under its wide-reaching charter, or otherwise being observed. Similar mission requirements meant other services were working on developing their own equipment, and the Shed Light Task Force was under orders from the start to survey all other development (see the original 1966 charter).

The US Army had been managing a piece of equipment referred to as S-202, which combined four IR cameras, a display, and operator chains, an artificial illumination component (described as “covert – UV,” using Ultraviolet light to provide illumination), and a freeze display function. Under Project Night Life, the S-202 it was to be tested on a S-61 helicopter by early 1967. The project itself was being funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).

The Army was also working on Project Dancing Dolls, which was attempting to develop a “foliage penetration radar.” Triple canopy jungle in Laos meant that being able to see at night might not be enough to acquire a target. The system was being tested on OV-1 aircraft then in use by the Army, but the USAF envisioned the radar as a component on the planned SCNA F-111s. This program and continued investigations into hunter-killer combinations led to the OV-1B (using SLAR) and OV-1C (using FLIR) aircraft being deployed themselves as hunters, teaming up with gunship aircraft during Operation Commando Hunt.