Operation Shed Light was a crash development project in aerial warfare, initiated in 1966 by the United States Air Force to increase the ability to accurately strike at night or in adverse weather. During the 1960s the United States military worked hard to interdict the movement of men and materiel along the Ho Chi Minh trail. The North Vietnamese were experts in the use of weather and darkness to conceal their movement, and understanding the superiority of American air power put their skills immediately to good use. US forces seeking to impede the steady flow of supplies attempted to locate largely static targets during the day with poor results.
Tropic Moon III B-57G aircraft with FLIR and LLLTV in nose
Artist's interpretation of an A-1E aircraft with podded LLLTV
Tropic Moon I Officers and Airmen, NKP Thailand, showing LLLTV pod on A-1E wing 1968
Tropic Moon I A-IE in flight with LLLTV pod on left wing
The Douglas A-26 Invader is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major Cold War conflicts. A limited number of highly modified United States Air Force aircraft served in Southeast Asia until 1969. It was a fast aircraft capable of carrying a large bomb load. A range of guns could be fitted to produce a formidable ground-attack aircraft.
Douglas A-26 Invader
Douglas XA-26 AAC Ser. No. 41-19504 first flight, Mines Field, California, piloted by Benny Howard
Douglas XA-26B Invader AAF Ser. No. 41-19588, 5 May 1943, with a "strafer" nose, was adaptable to a combination of weapons, including a 75 mm (3 in) cannon.
An eight-gun nose A-26, 8th BS, 3rd BG Machinato Airfield, Okinawa 20 August 1945