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    The Lockheed EC-121 "Warning Star" is a variant of the C-121 transport aircraft, which, in turn, was the Air Force version of the famous L-1049 Super Constellation airliner. They were called "Connies" by the pilots who flew them,.  Their primary mission was airborne early warning.   A radome height-finding radar antenna (called the "camel back") was mounted on the top of the fuselage and a large radome was placed under it.
     The navy purchased 142 "Connies."  Several were the C-121 transport version; they were used to fulfill its obligation to the Military Air Transport Service.  The bulk of them were the Electronic or EC versions.  They were used to maintain early warning barriers over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  In 1965, BMEWS, the Ballastic Missile Early Warning System, assumed the responsibility over the northern approaches to the North Atlantic.  Connies also performed weather, electronic- and photo-reconnaissance.
     During the Vietnam war, both the Air Force and the Navy used the EC-121 in a variety of roles ranging from airborne aircraft command and control and early warning to electronic surveillance. a replacement for them in these roles was never found.  A Navy C-121J nicknamed the "Blue Eagle"  served as an airborne radio and television transmitter for the armed forces network in South Vietnam.  Another "Warning Star" made news on April 14, 1969 when it was shot down over the Sea of Japan by North Korean aircraft with the loss of the entire thirty-one man crew. This attack prompted the United States to deploy Task Force 71 to Asian waters.

See: Lockheed 1049 Super Constellation | USAF EC-121