AN/MPQ-2 explained

The AN/MPQ-2 Close Cooperation Control Unit was a truck-mounted pautomatic tracking radar/computer/communication system ("Q" system) for aircraft command guidance, e.g., missile tracking, and for Radar Bomb Scoring.[1] It was introduced shortly after the end of World War II. For ground directed bombing (GDB), an operator would manually plot a target on the "Blind Bombing Plotting Sheet", then use the manual "E6B computer and bombing tables" to plot the release point for striking the target, after which a radar operator used the AN/MPQ-2 to acquire a track of the bomber near an initial point during which allowed ground control of the bomb run to the release point.

Based on the World War II SCR-584 radar[2] developed by MIT and which was used for the "SCR-584-M missile control Receiver and beacon", the MPQ-2 included an "RC-294 Plotter"[3] and its analog computer for converting radar range, azimuth, and elevation to cartesian coordinates, as well as a plotting board for drawing the aircraft track. The AN/MPQ-2 was the basis for the Rome Air Development Center's AN/MSQ-1 & -2 Close Support Control Sets also used in the Korean War,[4] and the MSQ-1A was used for command guidance of the Matador missile.

Locations

Radar Bomb Scoring detachments of the Colorado Springs' 206th Army Air Force Base Unit (organized on June 6, 1945) used MPQ-2s at Kansas City and Fort Worth Army Airfield and in 1946, the 4th launch of a V-2 at White Sands Proving Ground (1946) was tracked by two MPQ-2s.[5] In addition to the CONUS RBS detachments (e.g., Detachments C, K, & N), Detachment 23's AN/MPQ-2 was at the Heston Radar Bomb Scoring Site on November 10, 1950,[6] and after deployment to the Korean War, the three AN/MPQ-2 radars of the 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Group RBS detachments were transferred in January 1951 under the operational control of the 502nd Tactical Control Group. The MPQ-2 guided Martin B-26 Marauders against enemy positions in front of the 25th Infantry Division."[7] On February 23, 1951, the 1st Boeing B-29 Superfortress mission controlled by an MPQ-2 was flown.[8]

See Also

Notes and References

  1. 1947 . Adoption of Standard Operating Procedure for AN/MPQ-2 Close Cooperation Control Unit . IRIS summary form . 2012-01-31 . AN/MPQ-2 CLOSE COOPERATION CONTROL UNIT AS RECOMMENDED BY AIR PROVING GROUND COMMAND PROJECT REPORT NO. H 4488 .
  2. Book: Mcmurran, Marshall William . September 22, 2008 . An Unnecessary War . Xlibris Corporation . 978-1-4628-1064-2 . These air direction parties made very good use of the AN/MPQ-2 radars that were improved WW II SCR-584 gun-laying radars.
  3. Web site: 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Group . . KoreanWar.org . 2012-05-20 . Initially we had SCR-584 Radar and the RC-294 Plotting Equip. … I would begin working the bomb problem using an E6B computer and bombing tables..
  4. AD-A250 435, RL-TR-92-45 . Forty Years of Research and Development at Griffiss Air Force Base: June 1951-June 1991 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130408131948/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA250435 . April 8, 2013 . Smith . Historian John Q . Byrd . SSgt David A . 2013-01-31 . RADC developed the AN/MSO-1 and the AN/MSQ-2, which provided the first system designed for both bomb scoring and bomb directing functions. The MSO mobile Close Support Control Set was able to guide and record missile flights, in addition to its directing and scoring capabilities..
  5. 29 May 1946 . Upper Air Rocket Summary: V-2 No. 4 . 2013-01-13 . Two SCR-584, and two AN/MPQ-2 stations. … Automatic radar tracking inferior to optical directing..
  6. Web site: Uncorrelated Targets Comparable to B-29 . AN/MPQ-2.. Observation was made from a radar van at Heston Airdrome (51deg. 29' N -- 00 deg. 23' W)..
  7. Web site: Archived copy . 2013-02-04 . 2011-11-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111127123557/http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100526-023.pdf .
  8. Web site: Air force Magazine 2000 . February 4, 2013 . October 23, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121023144850/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2000/October%202000/1000korea.aspx .