The OV-10 Bronco Designed for Counterinsurgency and the Vietnam War The OV-10 Bronco Association 2015 Copyright © OV-10 Bronco Association. All rights reserved. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1. THE CONCEPT .................................................................................................................................... 5 2. THE DESIGN COMPETITION ................................................................................................................... 7 3. YOV-10A PROTOTYPE ........................................................................................................................ 9 3.1 THE MOCKUP................................................................................................................................. 9 3.2 YOV-10A FLIGHT TEST ................................................................................................................. 10 4. THE OV-10A BRONCO ...................................................................................................................... 13 5. FIELDING THE OV-10 IN VIETNAM ................................................................................................................. 19 5.1 MARINE CORPS SERVICE ................................................................................................................ 19 5.2 AIR FORCE SERVICE ....................................................................................................................... 30 5.3 NAVY SERVICE .............................................................................................................................. 35 6. OV-10 CHANGES DURING 1968-1975 .................................................................................................. 40 6.1 ARMAMENT ................................................................................................................................. 40 6.2 PAVE NAIL ................................................................................................................................. 42 6.3 NIGHT OBSERVATION GUNSHIP SYSTEM (NOGS) .............................................................................. 45 7. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................. 48 7.1 THE OV-10 IN THE VIETNAM WAR .................................................................................................. 48 7.2 THE OV-10 POST-VIETNAM ........................................................................................................... 48 7.3 IN SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 50 APPENDIX A: OV-10 AIR CREW LOSSES, 1968-1975 .................................................................................. A1 APPENDIX B: CONTRIBUTORS .................................................................................................................. B1 APPENDIX C: ABBREVIATIONS, ACRONYMS, AND TERMS ............................................................................... C1 APPENDIX D: BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................. D1 APPENDIX E: VIETNAM ERA OV-10 PATCHES & EMBLEMS ............................................................................. E1 - 1 - Table of Figures FIGURE 1: L2VMA Specification, Beckett and Rice, 1960 ................................................................................ 5 FIGURE 2: L2VMA Proposed Ordnance, Beckett and Rice, 1960 ..................................................................... 6 FIGURE 3: AW&ST Cover, OV-10 Mockup ....................................................................................................... 9 FIGURE 4: OV-10 Mockup Restored, 2001 ...................................................................................................... 9 FIGURE 5: Initial YOV-10A Configuration ...................................................................................................... 10 FIGURE 6: YOV-10A Aircraft #1 ..................................................................................................................... 11 FIGURE 7: YOV-10 Aircraft #4, All That Remains .......................................................................................... 12 FIGURE 8: OV-10A Bronco Revealed ............................................................................................................. 13 FIGURE 9: OV-10A Flight Controls ................................................................................................................ 14 FIGURE 10: OV-10A Cockpit Arrangement .................................................................................................... 15 FIGURE 11: Initial OV-10A Armament ........................................................................................................... 16 FIGURE 12: OV-10A Basic Dimensions .......................................................................................................... 17 FIGURE 13: OV-10A Being Waved Aboard .................................................................................................... 18 FIGURE 14: Marine Corps OV-10 Training Mission ....................................................................................... 19 FIGURE 15: Marine Corps OV-10 in Vietnam with CBU-55s .......................................................................... 22 FIGURE 16: ADSIDs Loaded For OV-10 Delivery............................................................................................ 23 FIGURE 17: OV-10 Back Seat View Forward ................................................................................................. 24 FIGURE 18: Marine Corps OV-10 in Vietnam. Note the Crew Visibility and Vulnerability. .......................... 25 FIGURE 19: Marine Corps OV-10 in Vietnam 1969 ....................................................................................... 26 FIGURE 20: VMO-2 OV-10A DaNang 1970 ................................................................................................... 27 FIGURE 21: SEA OV-10 Squadron Locations .................................................................................................. 29 FIGURE 22: Air Force OV-10A ....................................................................................................................... 30 FIGURE 23: VAL-4 OV-10s Loaded With Zunis, Mk4 Gun Pod, and M60s ..................................................... 36 - 2 - Table of Figures, Continued FIGURE 24: VAL-4 Fire Team section Over Rat Sung/Long Tau Shipping Channel to Saigon ....................... 37 FIGURE 25: VAL-4 Pilots’ Favorite Ordnance Load; Twenty Zunis ................................................................ 38 FIGURE 26: 20mm Gun Pod and ADSIDs ....................................................................................................... 40 FIGURE 27: CBU-55 Fuel Air Explosive .......................................................................................................... 41 FIGURE 28: Proposed Recoilless Rifle Installation and Static Test Rig ........................................................ 41 FIGURE 29: PAVE NAIL Equipped OV-10A ...................................................................................................... 42 FIGURE 30: Bridge In Daylight and At Night With PAVE NAIL Scope ............................................................ 43 FIGURE 31: YOV-10D System Diagram .......................................................................................................... 45 FIGURE 32: YOV-10D NOGS .......................................................................................................................... 47 FIGURE 33: VMO-1 OV-10D at Camp Pendleton, 1993 ................................................................................ 48 FIGURE 34: OV-10 Mosquito Sprayer ........................................................................................................... 49 FIGURE 35: CalFire OV-10A ........................................................................................................................... 50 FIGURE 36: OBA OV-10s On Display ............................................................................................................. 50 - 3 - Introduction It was a tale like many others from the Vietnam This was the way the Marine Corps used its OV- War. A Marine Corps reconnaissance team 10s. The Air Force, with a different mission found itself in contact with an overwhelming focus, used them primarily in a forward air enemy force soon after being inserted by control or FAC role across Southeast Asia. They helicopter. There was nothing for them to do but also used the OV-10 in support of search and maneuver to a clearing large enough to use as a rescue or SAR missions to recover downed helicopter landing zone and resist the enemy aircrews. The Navy found a different way to use force while waiting for the arrival of a helicopter the Bronco and had established an OV-10 for extraction. The situation was desperate and squadron of its own in the Mekong Delta to would have been fatal for the entire team had it support riverine operations using the Bronco as not been for a