Gun data computer

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The gun data computer was a series of artillery computers used by the U.S. Army for coastal artillery, field artillery and anti-aircraft artillery applications. For antiaircraft applications they were used in conjunction with a director computer.

Contents

Variations

FADAC M18 FADAC M18.jpg
FADAC M18
TACFIRE communications terminal box at Fort Sill FADAC gun computer.jpg
TACFIRE communications terminal box at Fort Sill

Systems

AN/GSG-10 TACFIRE TACFIRE firing computer.jpg
AN/GSG-10 TACFIRE

The last TACFIRE fielding was completed during 1987. Replacement of TACFIRE equipment began during 1994.[ citation needed ]

TACFIRE used the AN/GYK-12 , a second-generation mainframe computer developed primarily by Litton Industries for Army divisional field artillery (DIVARTY) units. It had two configurations (division and battalion level) housed in mobile command shelters. Field artillery brigades also use the division configuration.

Components of the system were identified using acronyms:

The successor to the TACFIRE system is the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS). The AFATDS is the "Fires XXI" computer system for both tactical and technical fire control. It replaced both BCS (for technical fire solutions) and IFSAS/L-TACFIRE (for tactical fire control) systems in U.S. Field Artillery organizations, as well as in maneuver fire support elements at the battalion level and higher. As of 2009, the U.S. Army was transitioning from a version based on a Sun Microsystems SPARC computer running the Linux kernel to a version based on laptop computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Surviving examples

One reason for a lack of surviving examples of early units was the use of radium on the dials. As a result they were classified as hazardous waste and were disposed of by the United States Department of Energy. Currently there is one surviving example of FADAC at the Fort Sill artillery museum. [9]

See also

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References

  1. Kempf, Karl (November 1961). "CHAPTER VI -- COMPUTERS FOR SOLVING GUNNERY PROBLEMS". Electronic Computers Within The Ordnance Corps, Computers for Solving Gunnery Problems.
  2. "Field Artillery Digital Automatic Computer (FADAC)". Department of Defense Appropriations for 1970, Part 5. Hearings 91st Congress 1st Session 1969. 9. HathiTrust: 644–645, 647–648. hdl:2027/mdp.35112202783561.
  3. Lieutenant Albert R. Milavec. "On FADAC Maintenance" Archived 2013-02-26 at the Wayback Machine . p. 32 of "Artillery Trends" May 1968. "The FADAC is an all-transistorized, stored-program, general purpose digital computer ... Weighing approximately 200 pounds ... the FADAC components utilize approximately 1,600 transistors, 9,000 diodes, 6,000 resistors, 500 capacitors, and many other switches, transformers, and neon lamps."
  4. Department of Defense appropriations for 1965, pt.3, p. 283.
  5. "Field Artillery Digital Automatic Computer". p. 254 of Martin H. Weik. "A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems". 1961.
  6. Datamation. F.D. Thompson Publications. January 1964. p. 61.
  7. "The United States Army | Fires Bulletin". sill-www.army.mil. "First Round Hits" With FADAC. September 1960. p. 9. Retrieved 9 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. Salisbury, Alan B. (1979), "TACFIRE: A case history of a weapon system software development", Journal of Systems and Software, 1: 155–175, retrieved 11 August 2024
  9. "U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum - Home". Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.

Sources