Curtiss EC-46D Commando
Variant
This designation has been applied to two different Commando variants:
- A 1949 military conversion by the USAF.
- A 1973 military conversion by the JASDF (Japan Air Self-Defense Force).
Total airplanes converted to EC-46D:
- 5 USAAF C-46D converted.
- 3 JASDF C-46D converted.
Description
The denomination EC-46D meant very different things in the USAAF and the JASDF.
For the USAAF, the prefix "E" meant the affected aircraft were exempt from modification orders and loaned to an outside organization. All USAAF EC-46D's were picked from RFC stocks at Bush Field, GA in March 1948, converted at Langley AFB, VA in February 1949 and broken up shortly thereafter. Nothing is known about what they were used for or which outside organization they might have been loaned to.
On the other hand, the Japanese EC-46D was an electronic warfare version of the late C-46D. The JASDF purchased a total of 48 C-46Ds between 1955 and 1957. They remained in Japanese military service as transports for many years until the domestically-produced Kawasaki C1 entered production in 1975. Most of the JASDF C-46D's were retired after that, but three were kept in service and converted for electronic warfare training. They operated in that role between 1973 and 1978, redesignated EC-46D (sometimes referred to as C-46ECM). However, all three aircraft were externally different from each other, most notably in the shape of nose-radomes and antenna fits.
All three Japanese EC-46Ds were assigned to the Air Defense Command Electronic Counter Measures Squadron based at Iruma AB, Japan. Of these three ECM variants, two have been preserved and are on display at air museums in Japan: 91-1143 at the Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park and 91-1145 at Iruma AB.
Right: antenna fit of all three JASDF EC-46Ds.
Photo credit: Britmodeller.com
Last edited: 09/04/2024