Martin AN/FSG-1 Antiaircraft Defense System explained

Partof:Army Air Defense Command Posts
at Missile Master complexes
Location:9 states: CA IL MA MD MI NJ(2) NY PA WA
Country:United States
Type:military command, control and coordination system
Ownership:United States Army
Operator:Army Air Defense Command
Controlledby:
Site Other Label:Subsystems
&<br/>AAOC
consoles
Site Other:tactical display subsystem with
3 tactical monitor consoles:
  • friendly protector console
  • operations officer's console
  • commander's console

tracking subsystem with

  • 6 tracking consoles
  • 2 surveillance and entry cons.
  • 2 range-height indicator cons.
  • channel status unit


ADL transmitters and receivers

The Martin AN/FSG-1 Antiaircraft Defense System, better known as Missile Master, was an electronic fire distribution center for United States Army surface-to-air missiles. It aimed to computerize Cold War air defense (AD) command posts from manual plotting board operations[3] to automated command and control.[4]

The 10 C3 systems used radar netting ("electronic umbrella")[5] at Missile Master military installations for coordinating ground-controlled interception by Nike and MIM-23 Hawk missiles. The vacuum tube fire control logic reduced the time to designate the appropriate missile battery to launch if an enemy target had intruded into a defense area where an AN/FSG-1 system was deployed.

History

The AN/FSG-1 was an outgrowth of the July 1945 Signal Corps' Project 414A for an electronic Air Defense Fire Distribution System (ADFDS),[6] a 1950 prototype computer and console system, and the 1954 experimental forerunner/"test system" (AN/GSG-2) installed at Fort George G. Meade.[7] The 1st AN/FSG-1 was contracted in August 1955, the program had been publicly announced by August 1956, Missile Master sites had been selected by June 1957,[8] and the "operational" AN/FSG-1 at the Fort Meade radar station was "put into action" on December 5, 1957.[9] A 13-minute AN/FSG-1 military film (MF 11-8923) was produced in 1958,[10] and Congressional funding for additional sites was initiated in 1959 after the "Missile Master Plan" resolved the Army Project Nike and USAF CIM-10 Bomarc plans for SAM air defense.[11]

During the October 1959-July 1960 study regarding the system's algorithm for Automatic Target and Battery Evaluation (ATABE), the "first production model AN/FSG-1" was dedicated in January 1960 at Fort Lawton Air Force Station (AFS), Washington. Following installation, a checkout period, and AN/FSG-1 acceptance; a dedication ceremony was often held and open to media (e.g., May 1960 acceptance at Highlands AADS, New Jersey, with June 5 dedication). The "SAGE/Missile Master test program" conducted large-scale field testing of the AN/FSG-1 "mathematical model" using actual radar tracks of SAC and ADC aircraft sorties into the defense areas[12] (SAC-simulated bomb runs were planned after September 22, 1960). The last (10th) AN/FSG-1 was dedicated in December 1960 at Fort MacArthur, California.https://news.google.com/news/story?q=%22Missile+Master%22&amp;hl=en&amp;bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&amp;biw=1600&amp;bih=727&amp;wrapid=tlif131651551725810&amp;um=1&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;ncl=aqtpqESeTxzMgaM&amp;ei=5W54TqMNtMSxAoiDufcD&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=news_result&amp;ct=more-results&amp;resnum=1&amp;ved=0CDEQqgIwADgU

AN/FSG-1 installations
STAN/FSG-1 operationsrazed[13] align=left CP: Brig (batteries)
MDalign=center December 5, 1957—August 1966[14] (no bunker)W-13DC: 35th
WAFort Lawton AFSalign=center January 21, 1960[15] —*2008 http://ed-thelen.org/loc-w.htmlS-90DC
MAalign=center 1960 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x85HAAAAIBAJ&amp;sjid=lP8MAAAAIBAJ&amp;pg=752,1532635&amp;dq=highlands+air+force&amp;hl=en —early 1965.1969[16] B-21DC
NJalign=right May 1960—November 30, 19661995[17] NY-55DC: 52nd
MIalign=center June 1960—*2005[18] D-15DC 
NYLockport AFS align=center Jul or Aug 1960[19] —*bunker intactNF-17DC
NJalign=center
  •         —September 1966
bunker intactPH-64DC: 24thhttps://web.archive.org/web/20080919211305/http://www.aradcomsite99.com/history.htm
ILArlington Heights AFS align=center October 28, 1960[20] —*bunker intactC-80DC: 45th
PAalign=center November 18, 1960[21] —February 8, 1967P-70DC: 31st[22]   
CAalign=center December 14, 1960 https://news.google.com/news/story?q=%22Missile+Master%22&amp;hl=en&amp;bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&amp;biw=1600&amp;bih=727&amp;wrapid=tlif131651551725810&amp;um=1&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;ncl=aqtpqESeTxzMgaM&amp;ei=5W54TqMNtMSxAoiDufcD&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=news_result&amp;ct=more-results&amp;resnum=1&amp;ved=0CDEQqgIwADgU<---->—January 31, 1967[23] [24] LA-45DC: 47th http://www.ftmac.org/Lanike2.htm

Replacement

With the availability of solid-state direction center (DC) equipment such as the Martin AN/GSG-6 BIRDIE deployed in 1961, the United States Department of Defense approved in December 1963 the replacement of the AN/FSG-1. Six were replaced with Hughes AN/TSQ-51 Air Defense Command and Coordination Systems with the last replacement on February 8, 1967, at Oakdale AFS, Pennsylvania.[25] Ft Lawton,[26] Fort Heath MA, and Lockport AFS NY[27] were replaced with BIRDIEs[5] while instead of replacement, the AN/FSG-1 at Pedricktown Army Air Defense Base was removed after its defense area was incorporated into the combined New York-Philadelphia Defense Area controlled by Highlands AADS[28] —which later switched to a BIRDIE by July 1, 1972 (conversely, Ft Heath & Lockport subsequently switched from BIRDIE to AN/TSQ-51).[29]

Operations

The "semiautomatic" AN/FSG-1 automatically plotted target tracks, evaluated missile sites for use against a target, and automated the communication with batteries.[30] The automation reduced delay "by four or five times" over the previous command post method with manual plotting,[3] review of hardcopy performance charts to estimate an intercept point, and telephone voice commands. Operators at the AADCP reviewed the 19inches[31] orange interactive plan position indicator CRTs which displayed the AN/FSG-1 radar network's data, e.g., "14 pieces of information…height, level, priority, direction…",[32] etc. in the tiered Antiaircraft Operations Center (AAOC). The "Blue Room" was recessed in a pit with a stage, blue walls, blue overhead fluorescent illumination, and more than 12 blue consoles. In the rear of the AAOC was the highest "third row [with] a "friendly protector" console, three tactical monitor consoles, and a tactical director's console. The defense commander's room…at the top rear" had a window for viewing into the AAOC.[33] The AAOC crew was typically 22 soldiers and 5 company grade officers.[34]

Via an automated data link (ADL) of digital information, the AN/FSG-1 communicated the identification friend or foe status from the AADCP to remote fire units where a "foe" symbol was placed "around each radar return on the scope". The AN/FSG-1 assigned a Nike fire unit to a target using the same ATABE "programmed selection logic" as the USAF SAGE system, and the algorithm could be tested using a simulator (a "20-target raid…with maneuvering targets, takes approximately 1 1/4 minutes.")[12] When the AN/FSG-1 had automatically assigned a battery to a foe, a technician used the "entry stick" to alert the battery to "prepare to engage" (e.g., lock the Target Tracking Radar on the target). The director's console was subsequently used to manually input the attack command, and the AN/FSG-1 transmitted[35] a change to the foe symbol at the designated fire unit[36] where the Battery Control Officer reacted to the symbol and issued the firing order to a ready missile.[37] The AN/FSG-1 also provided a communication function previously performed by the Interim Battery Data Link (IBDL) system which had transmitted the "missile away" notification from the firing battery to other sites, allowing "battery commanders to see which targets were being engaged by other batteries".[38]

See Also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Berhow, Mark . Taylor, Chris (illustrations) . 2005 . US Strategic and Defensive Missile Systems 1950-2004 . Osprey Publishing . 1-84176-838-3 . 21 . 2011-09-06.
  2. News: December 1960 . Missile Master Warns 10 Key Defense Areas . Army Research and Development Newsmagazine . Washington, D.C. . 2011-09-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120406065816/http://asc.army.mil/docs/pubs/alt/archives/1960/Dec_1960.pdf . 2012-04-06 . dead .
  3. Web site: November 11, 2005 . AN/FSG-1 Missile Master and AN/TSQ-51 Missile Mentor . The Historic Atlantic Highlands Military Reservation (MR) . Fort Tilden . 2011-10-07.
  4. Miller . J. M. . January 1961 . The Evaluation Program for the AN/FSG-1 Antiaircraft Defense System . IV, Missile Master Model; Report No. 2354-29-T . Ann Arbor, Michigan . Institute of Science and Technology, The University of Michigan .
  5. News: October 1961 . Army Installing First of 19 Midget Missile Master Systems . Army Research and Development Newsmagazine . Washington, D.C. . 2011-09-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120406065500/http://asc.army.mil/docs/pubs/alt/archives/1961/Oct_1961.pdf . 2012-04-06 .
  6. Book: History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense: Volume I: 1945-1955 . Army.mil PDF . 2011-09-13 . Signal Corps formally establishes Air Defense Fire Distribution System (ADFDS) Project 414A which will lead to development of AN/FSG1 (Missile Master . 2013-11-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131110121813/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/bmd/BMDV1.pdf . dead .
  7. Bender . Donald E . December 1999 . The Pedricktown Missile Master Site, 1960-1966 . FDU.edu website . Quarterly Newsletter . Salem County Historical Society . 2011-09-06 . A prototype system produced by the U.S. Army Signal Corps during 1950 eventually led to the deployment of the experimental Antiaircraft Defense System (AN/GSG-2) at Fort George G. Meade . https://web.archive.org/web/20110806032853/http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/N-A-pedricktown.html . 2011-08-06 . dead .
  8. News: May 2, 1957 . 'Missile Master' Survey Completed . . . 13 . 2011-10-08.
  9. News: December 5, 1957 . Missile Master News Release-1 . (FTMeade.army.mil transcript) United States Army . 2011-09-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120323140458/http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/museum/Missile_Master_News_1.html . March 23, 2012 .
  10. 1958 . AN/FSG-1 Antiaircraft Defense System . USA Signal Air Defense Engineering . 2011-09-20 . Film explains the role and operation of the Army's Missile Master System     Designed to function as the communications and intelligence center of our AA defense system NIKE practice alert with and without Missile Master     Emphasizes that it is capable of operating independently and with other weapons as well as NIKE.
  11. News: June 12, 1959 . To Congress Today: Missile Master Plan is Readied . . Sarasota Herald Tribune . 2011-09-20 . (Windsor Daily Star article: Peek Slated At Missile Master Plan Retrieved 2011-09-28)
  12. December 1961 . A Survey and Summary of Mathematical and Simulation Models as Applied to Weapon System Evaluation . Aeronautical Systems Division, USAF . 2011-09-13 . Future experiments and/or tests: Data from the Phase II and Phase III NORAD SAGE/ Missile Master test program is to be used to validate the mathematical model. These are large-scale system tests employing SAC and ADC aircraft. The field test program is the responsibility of the NORAD Joint Test Force stationed at Stewart Air Force Base. …the primary object under present study is the performance of the Missile Master system with SAGE-ATABE inputs and not the SAGE system per se. (cites Miller 1961)
  13. Overhead bunker images at Arlington Heights, Lockport, & Pedricktown NOTE: The Lockport bunker is a similarly shaped building but with a different roof shape than the other bunkers (see Morris 2009).
  14. Web site: Cole . Merle T . Army Air Defense Installations in Anne Arundel County: 1950-1975 . Nike Missiles . FTMeade.Army.mil . 2011-09-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120323140537/http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/Museum/Missiles_AAA_%20Installations.htm . 2012-03-23 .
  15. News: January 23, 1960 . Nine Missile Sites To Be Activated . Google News Archive . Daytona Beach Morning Journal . 2011-09-25 . One site using the electronic air defense coordinating system was placed in operation Thursday at Ft. Lawton, Wash. Another is in operation at Ft. Meade, Md., protecting the Washington-Baltimore area. The announcement said others will be set up in New York, Boston, Buffalo-Niagara, Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Philadelphia.. (the Ft Lawton operational date also identified by Leonard 2011, p. 313)
  16. Web site: Harbor Defenses of Boston (MA) . keyhole.com . 2011-09-13 . Became a MISSILE MASTER control site in the 1950s (demolished 1969). The FAA obtained a radar site here from 1965 - 1986.
  17. Book: Gabrielan, Randall . Middletown, NJ In The 20th Century . . 1999 . paperback . 16 . . 978-0-7524-1322-8.
  18. Web site: Bateman . Tom . Site D-15DC - Selfridge AFB/ANGB . Detroit - Cleveland Defense Area . NikeHercules.Tripod.com . 2011-09-16.
  19. Web site: Liebing . Ralph . History of the 2d Artillery Group (Air Defense) . Unit Histories . 2011-09-24.
  20. Web site: Freeman . Paul . 2011 . 2002 . Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Illinois, Northwestern Chicago area . Airfields-Freeman.com . On April 6, 1959, BG Peter Schmick, Brigade CG, announced the purchase of the land, along with plans for the construction of the Command Post, 5 radar towers and supporting buildings, to house the Missile Master. The official dedication of the nation's operational automatic electronic weapon system to coordinate all elements of antiaircraft defense was made on October 28, 1960. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110622093131/http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IL/Airfields_IL_Chicago_NW.html . June 22, 2011 .
  21. News: November 19, 1960 . Army Dedicates Missile Master, Keeps Eye On Future And ICBMS . Google News Archive . The Pittsburgh Press . 2011-09-20.
  22. News: Hofstetter . Bethany . Nike missile sites helped keep region safe during Cold War . Murrysville Star . YourMurrysville.com . 2012-03-03 .
  23. News: February 1, 1967 . 'Missile Mentor' to Coordinate L.A. Weapons Unveiled . Los Angeles Times (archives) . 2011-09-30 . (a different reference identifies the Ft MacArthur AN/FSG-1 was replaced in 1966: Berhow . Mark A . Gustafson . David . 2011 . electronic . 2002 . Fort MacArthur . Fort MacArthur Military Press . 2011-09-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120415022709/http://www.cdsg.org/HDpac/FtMacBook11.pdf . 2012-04-15 .)
  24. Web site: Page . Tom . Morgan . Mark . Nike 'Missile Master' / 'Missile Mentor' at Fort MacArthur (Site LA-45DC) . Radomes.org . 2011-09-13 . on…Lower Reservation, east of Pacific Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets..
  25. Book: Leonard, Barry . 2011 . History of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense: Volume II: 1956-1972 . Google Books . 2011-09-29 . 1963…26 September…Two ARADCOM Missile Masters phased out, leaving eight in the system.. 9781437921311 .
  26. Web site: Denfeld . Duane Colt . March 19, 2011 . Nike Missile Bases: Washington State Cold War Defenses . HistoryLink.org Essay 9711 . 2011-10-04 . A BOMARC…missile installation at Paine Field, Everett, was planned but not completed..
  27. Web site: Nike Missile Niagara Falls-Buffalo Defense Area . Nike Air Defense Missile . 2011-10-04.
  28. Web site: November 29, 2005 . Nike Site PH-64DC Army Air Defense Command Post Pedricktown, NJ . Practice safe lunch…. . LiveJournal.com . 2011-09-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120402191417/http://dracolich.livejournal.com/46636.html . April 2, 2012 .
  29. McMaster . B. N. . etal . December 1984 . Historical Overview of the Nike Missile System . Environmental Science and Engineering, Inc. . 2011-09-16 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120402132428/http://www5.hanford.gov/pdw/fsd/AR/FSD0001/FSD0037/D199049898/D199049898_19126_147.pdf . 2012-04-02 .
    • NOTE: Estimates for AN/FSG-1 dates with asterisks are from the annual July 1 maps in McMaster's report, which don't show a symbol near the Pedricktown NJ site but instead mark a Missile Master north of Philadelphia near Allentown/Bethlehem PA). Also, although Berhow 2005 claims 7 of the 10 AN/FSG-1 systems were replaced with AN/TSQ-51 systems, the maps only show 6 AN/TSQ-51 Missile Mentors in 1966 at former Missile Master sites, with Ft Heath instead shown with an AN/FSG-1 Missile Master in 1964 (near a separate Massachusetts BIRDIE), then a Ft Heath BIRDIE in 1966 & 1967, a Ft Heath Missile Mentor in 1968 & 1969, and no Ft Heath AADCP in 1970 (a Rhode Island Missile Mentor was depicted in 1970; but not in 1971.) Likewise, the report's maps show the replacement Lockport BIRDIE subsequently switched to a Missile Mentor between July 1, 1967 & July 1, 1968 (as did Homestead-Miami.)
  30. Web site: June 29, 1999 . AN/FSG-1 Missile Master . Weapons of Mass Destruction . Federation of American Scientists . 2011-09-27 . By eliminating voice communications, this Martin-built system allowed an area commander to use all his batteries to engage up to 24 different targets..
  31. Debons . Anthony . Fried . Charles . March 31 – April 1, 1958 . Effects of Rate and Prolonged Viewing of Radar Signal Flicker . Google books . . . Illumination and Visibility of Radar and Sonar Displays: Proceedings of a Symposium . 58-60044 . 2011-10-23 . The present problem arose in connection with the proposed integration of the Army Missile Master System with jointly used air defense radars. … I visited the Army center having the radar scopes in question… The experiment duplicated exactly the size of scope and flicker rate.. (p. 124)
  32. Web site: c. 1998 . Tape 11: Theodore C. Viars . text description of NTSC Video . Camp Evans Oral Histories . InfoAge.com . 2011-09-14 . Gene Sheftelman, who described target information that would be displayed on a CRT with 14 pieces of information to include height, level, priority, direction from velocity vector, etc. This capability was demonstrated to military and private people concerned with Air Defense. Ted presented a paper in 1955 at the October 3-5 (Vol. XI) National Electronics Conference in Chicago on this subject. . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923200117/http://www.campevans.org/_CE/html/oh-Theodore-C-Viars.html . 2015-09-23 . dead .
  33. March 1958 . Missile Master Air Defense System . . 54–5 . 2011-09-26. (page 55)
  34. Web site: Liebing . Ralph . Missile Master Detachment: 2d Artillery Group; Niagara-Buffalo Air Defense . Unit Histories . 2011-09-24.
  35. Book: Missile Master . promotion booklet . Martin Company . 2011-09-13 . Tactical Monitor operators assign a specific target to an individual battery.
  36. Stephens . Gary . October 1999 . Three Hours from Armageddon: Life at a Cold War Nike Missile Site . AuthorsDen.com . ADA Magazine Online . 2011-10-04 . The EWPB operator starts calling out and plotting hostile inbound tracks. … An AADCP-generated "foe" symbol is around each radar return on the scope. One of these symbols indicates that our battery is to engage that target..
  37. field manual . FM 44-1: U. S. Army Air Defense Employment . https://web.archive.org/web/20130309181910/http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/docrepository/FM44_1_1965.pdf . dead . 9 March 2013 . . 11 October 1965 . 2011-09-06 . The Missile Master includes…defense acquisition and height-finding radars… The Missile Master may receive automatic data link input from SAGE … FM 44-10…AN/FSG-1…FM 44-13 U.S. Army Air Defense Fire Direction System, AN/MSG-4 (Missile Monitor) .
  38. Web site: October 16, 2005 . Edgewood Test Veterans . GulfWarCouncil.com . 2011-10-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110830234741/http://gulfwarcouncil.com/edgewood_test_veterans.htm . 2011-08-30 . dead .

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