PROJECT GUARDRAIL
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PROJECT GUARDRAIL (Guardrail Common Sensor Program) was an US ARMY airborne battlefield signal surveillance concept started in the 1970s as a response to the growing need for effective signals intelligence (COMINT/SIGINT) capabilities during the Cold War.
Initially, it evolved from earlier systems like the Army’s "Raven" program and aimed to enhance the U.S. military's ability to intercept and analyze enemy communications.
Intelligence gathered during Guardrail missions is sent back to analysts operating in ground stations outside hostile areas.
Guardrail aircraft were first employed in Germany in 1971 (Guardrail I) to monitor Soviet Block troop movements in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, and they continued to perform that function for nearly 30 years.​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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As far as 1998 the system has reached the technological level of Guardrail XII.
The original owner of the below helmet was based in Hawaii from 1972 to 1975. In 1973 he was sent in South East Asia in order to support a Missing In Action search program over Viet Nam under GUARDRAIL II program.
Since U.S troops were withdrawing during the same period, these missions were not officially flown and the crew wore civilian clothes while flying...
The basic aircraft type used in the GUARDRAIL project was the Beechcraft RU-21 Huron.
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Starting with the piston-engined version of 1971, the type was later upgraded up to the RC-12Q version in 1998.
