Wild Weasel is a nickname for aircraft of the United States Air Force tasked with the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (or SEAD) mission. Notionally, this represents the way that weasels hunt for snakes, using themselves as bait.

Wild Weasel tactics were originally devised in 1965 as a method of countering the increasing North Vietnamese SAM threat, using volunteer crews flying the two-seat F model of the F-100 Super Sabre. However, the Super Sabre F, while an effective airframe, had first flown in 1956, and was simply not designed for the mission it was performing.

The Wild Weasel role was then passed to crews flying the F-105F Thunderchief, in late 1966. The F-105 was a better aircraft for this role, carrying more advanced radar, jamming equipment, and a heavier armament. The interim F-105F was eventually replaced by a genuine Wild Weasel variant; 61 each F-105F units re-manufactured to F-105G specifications.

However, by 1964, new F-105s were no longer in production, and the need for a still more sophisticated aircraft was apparent. At that time the Air Force ordered 36 F-4C aircraft, designated EF-4C Wild Weasel IV. However, this aircraft was seen as an interim type, mostly due to the fact that the F-4C was the Air Force's original fighter version of the Phantom. The F-4E, however, was a dedicated all-weather multirole fighter, with extensive ground attack capabilities. It was this model that served as the basis for the F-4G Wild Weasel V. 116 G models were built, the first one flying in 1975. Squadron service began in 1978. While too late for the Vietnam war, the Wild Weasel V served with air crews until 1996. By this time the F-4G was the last variant of the Phantom II still in Air Force service.

Currently a variant of the F-16 Fighting Falcon performs the Wild Weasel mission, the F-16 Block 50D and Block 52D. Production began in 1991, and the F-16 continues to serve with the Air Force at this time.

As the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is considered to be one the F-16's replacements, it is possible that a Wild Weasel version of the JSF will be built at some point.

In 1966, over Hanoi, North Vietnam, Wild Weasel flights of four aircraft sometimes were lead by a single F-105F/G two-seat aircraft (aided by its Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) with his electronic receivers & analyzers) plus three F-105Ds. Sometimes two "F"s, each with a "D" wingman, operated independently.

The Wild Weasel mission was to preceed strike flights, sanitizing the target area of radar guided Surface-to-Air Missile SA-2_Guideline threats; leaving the threat area last, sometimes resulting in 3.5 hour missions, returning to Royal_Thai_Air_Force_Bases. This was achieved by occasionally turning toward the air defense site in a threatening manner, or by firing radar homing missiles at the site, or by visually locating the site to dive bomb it. These tactics were attempted while under attack by MiGs and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA).

The F-105F did not utilize radar jammers since its purpose was to provide a decoy target, protecting the strike flights, and encouraging a SAM launch which generated enough white smoke to facilitate visually locating the SAM site for immediate dive bombing attack.

With multple on-coming missiles in visual sight it was possible to dive abruptly-sharply (brake) to avoid them. Failure to visually see them coming at three times fighter cruise speed results in mission failure.

The unofficial motto of the Wild Weasel crews is YGBSM – You Gotta Be Shittin' Me. As the story goes, this was the response of Weasel crews when they first learned what the mission entailed. The missions were so dangerous and required so much teamwork that before starting their combat tours, Weasel crews took part in a mock wedding ceremony. Wild Weasel aircraft can be identified by the "WW" tailcode.

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• http://www.wildweasels.org/
• http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f4_19.html
• http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/modern_flight/mf29.htm
• http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/f4/wildweasel.htm