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An advanced aerial informer, a Lockheed EC-121D Warning Star in the Air Defense Command’s 552nd Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing patrols the Pacific Ocean in 1967. To counter North Vietnam’s initial advantage in ground-controlled radar systems that guided its fighters trying to intercept U.S. aircraft, this militarized version of the L-1049 Super Constellation airliner operated from Taiwan to provide intercept guidance to American aircraft. The first airborne-controlled interception occurred on July 10, 1967, when an EC-121D directed McDonnell F-4C Phantom II fighters to shoot down two North Vietnamese MiG-17s. (U.S. Air Force)