OUTLAW HAWK – COMMANDER DAVE AYRES

Subsequent to publishing our May 5 Ripple Salvo tribute and obituary for Admiral Gus Kinnear, the following insightful comments concerning “Outlaw Hawk” were submitted by Commander Dave Ayres, U.S.N. (Retired)…

I am writing to follow up on your tribute to Admiral Kinnear and his use of Outlaw Hawk when he was ComCardiv One on USS KITTY HAWK in 1975. I was the project officer for that activity after RADM Julian Lake sent me from PM-7 to see if we could do something to assist Adm Kinnear with his Tactical Flag Command Center (TFCC) in September 1974. After visiting with Kinnear and his staff, I visited Sunnyvale Test & Evaluation Detachment (SUNTEVDET) at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (LMSC). The O-in-C was CDR Fred Carment, former CO of VQ-1. They briefed me on their project to test connectivity between a U-2 platform and a shore-based command and control system that processed and distributed the take. While I was there the project was canceled because the ambassador to Italy decreed that he would not support the deployment of the U-2 to Sigonella.

Meanwhile, it was apparent to me that if we could get a set of their equipment we could install it in Kitty Hawk by RIMPAC time in March 1975. So, I reported to Adm Lake that we should absorb the U-2 project and implement it in Kitty Hawk subject to Adm Kinnear’s agreement. And that’s what transpired. We completed the design, modification, system integration, and certification  by January 1975 and completed the installation, test and checkout, and training prior to Kitty Hawk’s participation in RIMPAC. Almost immediately, Adm Kinnear requested and was authorized to continue using the Outlaw Hawk system through their WESTPAC deployment. LMSC was given a support contract to maintain the system throughout the deployment. I got crosswise with the Intel community, who had been promising to implement a TFCC system that was at least a year or two away.

I retired on 1 September 1975 and went to work for LMSC. We followed up on Outlaw Hawk with designation of the system as the A/N/USQ-181(V) for use on submarines (Outlaw Shark) and aircraft (EP-3E Ranger 25 and PR-34); along with shore installations at CINCPACFLT and others.

The (V) refers to the variations needed to adapt to the aircraft, shore-based, surface ship, or submarine install. I personally led the installation teams for the Kitty Hawk(CVA-63), CINCPACFLT, USS MIDWAY(CVA-41), USS JOSEPHUS DANIELS (CG-27), USS ARCHERFISH (SSN-678), Ranger -25(VQ-2), and Deepsea-34(VQ-1).

Yours is the first attribution I have ever seen for Outlaw Hawk.

By the way, at first I named the undertaking Project Sundial, which was the name of the motel I stayed at in Mountain View. However, I got a call from a guy in OPNAV telling me that I had to choose between two allowed project names: Outlaw or Overbid; to be followed by a name of my choice. Well, I certainly did not want “overbid,” so I went with Outlaw. The Hawk seemed logical to complete the name.