PONY EXPRESS was the code name for a DOD program to collect information on Soviet missile tests. There were several components to the program. Two large tracking ships, the USNS ARNOLD and the USNS HOYT VANDENBERG used sophisticated telemetry antennas and radars to track the missiles and collect telemetry in the mid-course and reentry phases. Land-based radars in the Aleutian Islands also tracked the missiles in the mid-course phase. Aircraft from Japan and Hawaii would also attempt to collect telemetry signals.
