Original Item: Only One Available. This is a great example of a hard to find non-explosive rocket as used during Operation Igloo White. These seismic sensor rockets were deployed all over Vietnam in places like the Ho Chi Minh trail to monitor and detect enemy movement.

The rocket is completely inert and in compliance with the current BATF standards governing ordnance. Not available for export.

Using the cover of darkness, dense jungle and bad weather, North Vietnamese trucks carried critical supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail nearly undetected. Since large numbers of American ground troops were not permitted into neutral Laos to stop the trucks, the U.S. Air Force deployed a system of electronic equipment to thwart the enemy's cover and alert U.S. commanders. This highly-classified electronic system was known as Igloo White.

This rocket is in wonderful condition with a great camouflage paint pattern present. There is no significant damage present and all exterior components appear to be present aside from the antennae assembly. We do not know if any of the internals are inside. We could not find any legible markings to give us an exact model and or date of this rocket. Measures approximately 41 ½ inches in overall length with a diameter of 3 inches.

Comes ready for further research and display.

The system became operational in late 1967, and it consisted of three elements: sensors dropped by aircraft along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, an orbiting EC-121B "Batcat" or the QU-22B aircraft that picked up and relayed signals from the sensors, and the Infiltration Surveillance Center (ISC), which received the data. Operated by Task Force Alpha at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base (NKP RTAFB), the ISC interpreted the sensor data and passed target information to combat commanders, who sent attack aircraft to the target.

The Igloo White sensors on display are but a few of the many types employed along the Trail. Some sensors detected seismic disturbances created by passing trucks; some sensors used microphones to pick up nearby voices; and other sensors detected both seismic disturbances and voices.

Dropped from F-4 Phantoms, CH-3 helicopters, OV-10s and other aircraft, they were designed to drive into the ground but leave the antenna exposed. The antennas were made to look like a small tree or bush to hide them from the enemy. Over 20,000 sensors were dropped in Laos, and 80 percent of the sensors were operational after dropping.