GE 477L Nuclear Detection and Reporting System

Last updated

The GE 477L Nuclear Detection and Reporting System (NUDETS, [1] NUDETS 477L, [2] Program 477L[ citation needed ]) was a Cold War "Nuclear Detonation and Radioactive Fall-out Reporting System" for the National Military Command System. [3] Planning/development began "by September 1, 1959, when.NORAD had taken over responsibility from CONAD." [4] In February 1961, General Electric and the sensor subcontractor Dresser agreed on a "team proposal" to the USAF. [5] GE's oral proposal to the USAF was on October 18, 1961, and in early November the GE/Dresser team was selected from 13 proposals. [5] The contract was completed February 5, 1962; specifications were approved June 1962; and the "target cost" and "target fee" amounts were $1,709,755 and $95,000. [5] Lt Col Elmer Jones was the program chief at the System Program Office. [6]

Deuces Wild/Thirsty Camel

Phase I of NUDETS deployed under the code names Deuces Wild and Thirsty Camel [3] and was a prototype system "in operation in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area and reported data to the NORAD COC for about 20 months (l July 1964 to 27 February 1966) [4] --Chidlaw Building Combined Operations Center in Colorado Springs until Cheyenne Mountain Complex became operational in 1965-6. The "regional data processing center" was at Benton Air Force Station, and the sensors were at sensors located at Benton; Thomas, West Virginia; Manassas, Virginia, and Hermanville, Maryland (RP-54A/Z-227A, 38°13′40″N076°24′33″W / 38.22778°N 76.40917°W / 38.22778; -76.40917 ). [3] Phase I testing "showed that the data it gave was not reliable" [4] and by May 1965, NUDETS was planned to be cancelled. [7] NUDETS was combined with the Army's Improved Biological and Chemical Detection Warning System to form the NORAD Nuclear Biological Chemical (NBC) Warning and Reporting System effective 1 January 1966 by NORAD Operation Order 303N-66, 26 November 1965. [4]

Related Research Articles

Semi-Automatic Ground Environment Historic US military computer network

The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. SAGE directed and controlled the NORAD response to a Soviet air attack, operating in this role from the late 1950s into the 1980s. Its enormous computers and huge displays remain a part of cold war lore, and a common prop in movies such as Dr. Strangelove and Colossus.

North American Aerospace Defense Command Combined Organization of the US and Canada providing air defence for North America

North American Aerospace Defense Command, known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Northern America. Headquarters for NORAD and the NORAD/United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) center are located at Peterson Air Force Base in El Paso County, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The nearby Cheyenne Mountain Complex has the Alternate Command Center. The NORAD commander and deputy commander (CINCNORAD) are, respectively, a United States four-star general or equivalent and a Canadian three-star general or equivalent.

PAVE PAWS Early warning radar

PAVE PAWS is a complex Cold War early warning radar and computer system developed in 1980 to "detect and characterize a sea-launched ballistic missile attack against the United States". With the first solid-state phased array deployed, the system at the perimeter of the contiguous United States used a pair of Raytheon AN/FPS-115 radar sets at each site as part of the United States Space Surveillance Network. One system was sold to Taiwan and is still in service.

Ballistic Missile Early Warning System US Cold War Early Warning Radar for ballistic missile defense

The RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System was a United States Air Force Cold War early warning radar, computer, and communications system, for ballistic missile detection. The network of twelve radars, which was constructed beginning in 1958 and became operational in 1961, was built to detect a "mass ballistic missile attack launched on northern approaches [for] 15 to 25 minutes' warning time" also provided Project Space Track satellite data.

National Military Command Center

The National Military Command Center (NMCC) is a Pentagon command and communications center for the National Command Authority. Maintained by the Department of the Air Force as the "DoD Executive Agent" for NMCC logistical, budgetary, facility and systems support; the NMCC operators are in the Joint Staff's J-3 (Operations) Directorate. "The NMCC is responsible for generating Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) to missile launch control centers, nuclear submarines, recon aircraft and battlefield commanders".

Aerospace Defense Command

Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inactivated in 1950, reactivated in 1951, and then redesignated Aerospace rather than Air in 1968. Its mission was to provide air defense of the Continental United States (CONUS). It directly controlled all active measures, and was tasked to coordinate all passive means of air defense.

Ground Equipment Facility J-33

Ground Equipment Facility J-33 is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar station of the Joint Surveillance System's Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) with an Air Route Surveillance Radar (ARSR-4). The facility was previously a USAF general surveillance radar station during the Cold War.

1st Space Operations Squadron

The United States Space Force's 1st Space Operations Squadron is a space operations unit located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. The squadron is responsible for performance launch, on-orbit, emergency, end-of-life testing and disposal operations providing warning, navigation, R&D, surveillance and weather to the president and the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and nine combatant commanders worldwide.

Ground Equipment Facility QRC

Ground Equipment Facility QRC is an FAA radar station that was part of a Cold War SAGE radar station for aircraft control and warning "from Massachusetts to southern Virginia, and as far out to sea as possible." Benton AFS was also the first operational "regional data processing center" for the GE 477L Nuclear Detection and Reporting System.

Manassas Air Force Station

Manassas Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 7.4 miles (11.9 km) west of Dale City, Virginia. It was closed in 1965.

The Fort Meade radar station was a Cold War military site with several sets of radar equipment in various Army and USAF radar networks. The site operated c. 1950 until 1979 and had a Project Nike command post and radar network.

Fort Heath radar station

The Fort Heath radar station was a USAF radar site and US Army Missile Master installation of the joint-use site system (JUSS) for North American Air Defense at a former coastal defense site. The Cold War radar station had 2 USAF AN/FPS-6B height finding radars, 2 Army AN/FPS-6A height finders, an FAA ARSR-1 radar emplaced 1958-9, and an Army nuclear bunker. Arctic Towers were the pedestals for the FPS antennas and radomes, while the Air Route Surveillance Radar was on a 50-foot extension temperate tower adjacent to the Federal Aviation Administration building.

The GE AN/GPA-37 Course Directing Group was a USAF Cold War air defense command, control, and coordination system for weapons direction. During Air Defense Command's "Control Capability Improvement Program" to improve command guidance of manned aircraft, the AN/GPA-37 was "developed by the General Electric Heavy Military Electronic Equipment Department at Syracuse in conjunction with...Rome Air Development Center and the Electronics Research Laboratories of Columbia University." Used to process radar data, the system was to "track a potential enemy aircraft and direct intercepters [sic] into a position from which they can make their automatic firing runs", the system included the:

An Air Defense Direction Center (ADDC) was a type of United States command post for assessing Cold War radar tracks, assigning height requests to available height-finder radars, and for "Weapons Direction": coordinating command guidance of aircraft from more than 1 site for ground-controlled interception. As with the World War II Aircraft Warning Service CONUS defense network, a "manual air defense system" was used through the 1950s Along with 182 radar stations at "the end of 1957, ADC operated … 17 control centers", and the Ground Observation Corps was TBD on TBD. With the formation of NORAD, several types of ADDCs were planned by Air Defense Command:

NORAD Control Centers (NCCs) were Cold War "joint direction centers" for command, control, and coordination of ground-controlled interception by both USAF Air Defense Command (ADC) and Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM). The Joint Manual Steering Group was "formed by the Army and Air Force in July 1957 to support…collocation" of USAF Air Defense Direction Centers and Army Air Defense Command Posts, which began after a January 28, 1958, ADC/ARADCOM meeting with NORAD to "collocate the Fairchild-Geiger facilities" Army contracts for 5 NCCs had been let by August 17, 1958, after 1956 DoD approval for collocation of interim "pre-SAGE semiautomatic intercept systems" and radar squadrons at 10 planned Army Missile Master AADCPs

Falling Leaves was the improvised ballistic missile early warning system during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that networked 3 existing CONUS radars—2 Space Detection and Tracking System (SPADATS) radars and an Aircraft Control and Warning general surveillance radar which was modified by Sperry Corporation to 1,500 mi (2,400 km) range, allowing detection in space near Cuba. The "Cuban Missile Early Warning System (CMEWS)" radars were "realigned" to monitor for nuclear missile launches from the new Soviet launch sites after Soviet R-12 Dvina IRBMs arrived on September 8, intelligence sources in Cuba had reported lengthy missiles transported through towns, and three R-12 sites were photographed by Lockheed U-2s by October 19.

The National Military Command System (NMCS) was the federal government of the United States' Cold War command and control system that consisted of the National Military Command Center (NMCC) at The Pentagon, the Alternate National Military Command Center (NMCC) at Pennsylvania Raven Rock Mountain, 3 National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP) aircraft on 24-hour ground alert, 2 National Emergency Command Post Afloat (NECPA) ships, "and interconnecting communications".

Continental Air Defense Command

Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense, tasked with air defense for the Continental United States. It comprised Army, Air Force, and Navy components. It included Army Project Nike missiles anti-aircraft defenses and USAF interceptors. The primary purpose of continental air defense during the CONAD period was to provide sufficient attack warning of a Soviet bomber air raid to ensure Strategic Air Command could launch a counterattack without being destroyed. CONAD controlled nuclear air defense weapons such as the 10 kiloton W-40 nuclear warhead on the CIM-10B BOMARC. The command was disestablished in 1975, and Aerospace Defense Command became the major U.S. component of North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

Missile Warning Center

The Missile Warning Center (MWC) is a center that provides missile warning and defense for United States Space Command's Combined Force Space Component Command, incorporating both space-based and terrestrial sensors. The MWC is located at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station.

Eglin AFB Site C-6

Eglin AFB Site C-6 is an United States Space Force radar station which houses the AN/FPS-85 phased array radar, associated computer processing system(s), and radar control equipment. Commencing operations in 1969, the AN/FPS-85 was the first large phased array radar. The entire radar/computer system is located at a receiver/transmitter building and is supported by the site's power plant, fire station, 2 water wells, and other infrastructure for the system. As part of the US Space Force's Space Surveillance Network its mission is to detect and track spacecraft and other manmade objects in Earth orbit for "the Joint Space Operations Center satellite catalogue". With a peak radiated power of 32 megawatts the Space Force claims it is the most powerful radar in the world, and can track a basketball-sized object up to 22,000 nautical miles from Earth.

References

  1. ↑ Richard Greeley (January 8, 2014). Emmie and Roger: A Thermonuclear Romance. ISBN   9781434969804 . Retrieved 2014-04-06. NUDETS trailer at Palmyra … Hal Leach, the General Electric team chief; Joe Henry, the electronics whiz who had designed and built the NUDETS prototype system
  2. ↑ "The 477L Nuclear Detonation Detection System". Proceedings of the IRE. April 1962. p. 13A. Nuclear Detection System (NUDETS 477L) is the first defense system combining nuclear and electronic technologies. It is being developed for U.S. Air Force to locate and measure any nuclear explosion in U.S.
  3. 1 2 3 North American Air Defense Command Historical Summary (Report).[ specify ]
  4. 1 2 3 4 North American Air Defense Command Historical Summary (Report).[ specify ]
  5. 1 2 3 "Air Technology Corporation vs. General Electric Company". April 8 – June 10, 1964.
  6. ↑ Richard Greeley (January 8, 2014). Emmie and Roger: A Thermonuclear Romance (Google Books). ISBN   9781434969804.
  7. ↑ North American Air Defense Command Historical Summary (Report).[ specify ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.