During Zulu Alert Scrambles the F-4 Phantoms had to be airborne within 5 minutes of horn going off
Taken in a West Germany air base in the 1970s the gorgeous video in this post shows a typical Cold War Era scramble performed by a couple of U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-4E Phantoms on “Zulu Alert.”
Noteworthy Zulu Alert is the air-sovereignty mission where fighters scramble to intercept unknown ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone which actually is airspace over land or water in which the identification, location, and control of unidentified aircraft is performed in the interest of national security) intruders or anyone else who shouldn’t be where they are.
As explained in the video the interceptors had to be airborne within 5 minutes of horn going off, while the usual loadout of the Phantoms for this type of mission consisted of 20 mike mike M61 Vulcan cannon, AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missiles and AIM-7 Sparrow semi-active radar homing (SARH) missiles.
According to the clip description, moments during Zulu Alert scrambles were so tense that “sometimes during taxi and takeoff you were still trying to finish strapping in.”
So sit down, enjoy the video and feel the adrenaline of a Cold War Era Zulu Alert Scramble.
Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com
Participated in many, many claxon’s while being a SAC Crewchief. Four claxon’s a month at any given hour and one of the four required our four 135 tankers and eight B52’s to taxi into takeoff position. In some cases we were across the base at the barber shop or BX or even in a theater when that claxon’s sounded you better be at the aircraft and on headset within 10 minutes. It’s very very chaotic when 12 flight crews and the crew chiefs are running out to the jets when the horn blew. Needless to say, the sound of a loud buzzer type horn stayed with me for a couple of years. Loved SAC.
Thank you very much for having shared your memories with us!