This article is a comprehensive review of all the Lockheed RT-33As supplied to U.S.’s allied nations in the 1950s and 1960s. Since the RT-33As were not originally intended for USAF, there is very little documentation in most aviation books published in the U.S. Most have just one or two lines mentioning the existence of this variant. There are books on the RT-33A published in nations that operated the RT-33As. Some are very precise, but some are not in documenting the identities of the RT-33As supplied. A good amount of time has been spent researching and tracing the identities of individual RT-33As supplied to different nations. The following represents the most accurate data that has been compiled to date. There are inconsistencies in some of the USAF documents referenced and a few judgment calls have been made after reviewing other relevant sources. There is always room for improvement. Readers’ feedback and corrections are kindly solicited.

There is a mixed use of the terms “MAP” and “MDAP” in this article. According to the explanation in Ref. 5, they are essentially the same:

"The Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP) was created by the Mutual Defense Assistance (MDA) Act of October 6, 1949 – 6 months after the North Atlantic Treaty was signed. The MDAP became the Military Assistance Program (MAP) five years later. The new program reflected changes in the basic legislation of the MDA Act, effective August 26, 1954, (The MDAP designation lingered a while longer.) Mutual Security Act of 1954." The term, MAP, was not officially used in the USAF Digest until its Fiscal Year 1957 edition.

The Lockheed RT-33A

Lockheed’s RT-33A is a version of the T-33A trainer, modified into a single seat photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The nose section was significantly modified to accommodate various cameras very similar to the latest version of the camera arrangement in the RF-80C. Due to the number of cameras carried and the addition of a wire recorder, the loop antenna placed in the nose section was pushed further forward forcing Lockheed to modify the nose contour of the RT-33A. This made it more square-looking. The second seat of the aircraft was removed and modified to carry more fuel and the AN/ARN-6 radio compass and the AN/ARC-27 transceiver. These two pieces of electronic equipment were located in the nose section of the T-33A. The canopy of RT-33A remained the same as that of the T-33A. The dimensions of RT-33A and T-33A are identical except the length of RT-33A is 2.4 inches shorter (RT-33A length: 37.5 feet; T-33A length: 37.7 feet). The revised nose contour and the camera windows make the RT-33A readily distinguishable from T-33A.

The cameras installed in the nose section are divided into three camera bays: forward, middle, and aft with a total of four cameras. The forward bay contains one K-22A camera with a 12-inch lens positioned in the forward oblique position. The middle bay contains two K-17C cameras each with a 6-inch lens; one aimed towards the left oblique position and the second aimed towards the right oblique position. These are the side-view cameras. The aft bay contains one K-38 camera with a 24-inch lens in the vertical position. The RT-33A also carried a wire recorder (AN/ANH-2) to enable the pilot to make a record of the flight over the target, to elaborate on particular features of . . .