CEFIRM Leader / Crazy Dog

CEFIRM Leader, also desiganted AN/ULQ-11, was an airborne radio direction finding and jamming system used by the US Army. The system was mounted on modified U-21 Ute utility aircraft, designated RU-21A, RU-21B, and RU-21C. CEFIRM appears to be an acronym, but its meaning is unknown.

Developed in 1973, CEFIRM Leader became the first coordinated multi-aircraft mission system in US Army service. A total of 9 RU-21 aircraft were configured for use with the system. The complete system consisted of 4 direction finding systems fitted to RU-21A aircraft, 2 jammers fitted to RU-21C aircraft, and 3 master control systems mounted on RU-21B aircraft. The system usually was flown with 4 aircraft at a time, one RU-21C, one RU-21B, and 2 RU-21As.

The CEFIRM Leader system was never permanently deployed outside of CONUS. By the early 1980s, the remaining CEFIRM Leader systems had been transferred to the 138th Army Security Agency Company, also known as the 138th Aviation Company (Electronic Warfare), US Army Reserve in Orlando, Florida. There the system was also referred to as Crazy Dog. The unit deployed the system in support of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

In the early 1990s, as part of a US Army Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Streamlining Project following Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm determined that no data to analyze CEFIRM Leader mission performance was available. Logistically the system had presented nearly insurmountable support challenges due to its age, one-of-a-kind status, and lack of configuration control/documentation of the many changes made by US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). The system was ultimately maintained by a dedicated support contractor who had no previous system cognizance.

It was these factors that ultimately led to its retirement. The CEFIRM Leader system remained in service until 1993, when the 138th Army Security Agency Company transitioned to the Crazy Horse system and the RC-12G aircraft.