Vinh wiretap
From 7 December 1972 through early May 1973, CIA telephone intercepts of North Vietnamese military communications were supplied to American diplomat Henry Kissinger.
The CIA used a black helicopter to set a clandestine wiretap to eavesdrop on Paris Peace Talks discussions and other intelligence.
However, emplacing a tap at that location would entail crossing the heavily defended Trail and penetrating deep into North Vietnam.
Numerous modifications, including a coat of black radar-absorbent paint, produced a stealth aircraft that is still regarded as the quietest helicopter ever.
An attempt was made to train Nationalist Chinese pilots; the CIA wanted the element of deniability in case the aircrew was captured.
[3][4] While this was occurring, an air raid specifically approved from the White House "accidentally" struck in the no-strike area surrounding the objective.
Also, Air America acquired two unmodified civilian OH-6s and put them into service in Laos in April 1972 as a cover for the 500Ps' later arrival in-country.
A mockup of the wiretap site was set up for practice maneuvers; a tree was stripped limbless and a cross spar supplied to imitate the targeted telephone pole.
The two Lao commandos chosen to set the wiretap practiced exiting the 500P and climbing the mock phone pole to staple the tap in place.
[3][7] On 4 December 1972, then U.S. National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger arrived in France to represent the United States of America for the Paris Peace Talks to end the Vietnam War.
[7] It was flown by Air America pilots Daniel H. Smith and Lloyd George Anthony Lamonte Jr.[3] Speeding east through mountain passes and within ravines the copter covered 48 kilometers at an altitude of 200 feet (61 meters).
The helicopter then flew off to a pre-selected tree on a 340-meter peak and dropped a mesh web supporting a camouflaged solar-powered communications relay over its crown.
The CIA's use of the black helicopter from Area 51 to eavesdrop on the Paris Peace Talk discussions and other intelligence had ended.
