| AN/TSQ-96 | |
| Location: | Bergstrom Air Force Base |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Building Type: | military control system |
The Reeves AN/TSQ-96 Bomb Directing Central was an automatic tracking radar/computer/communications system ("Q" system). The United States Air Force used it from the 1960s, including during the Vietnam War.
The AN/TSQ-96 operated in India Band monopulse variant of the conical scan Reeves AN/MSQ-77 Bomb Directing Central and had a solid state Univac 1219B computer with punch tape reader[1] (Mark 152 fire control computer),[2] for ballistic calculation. As with the MSQ-77, an analog vacuum tube computer converted radar range, azimuth, and elevation to cartesian coordinates, but the TSQ-96 used a digital radiometer for analog-to-digital conversion. The TSQ-96 systems manufactured by Reeves Instrument Corporation were replaced by the US Dynamics AN/TPQ-43 Radar Bomb Scoring Set ("Seek Score").[3]
An AN/TSQ-96 was used for Vietnam War ground-directed bombing training at Bergstrom AFB in Austin TX and tracked flights at the Matagorda Island General Bombing and Gunnery Range.[4] Deployment of the central began at operating location 23 (OL-23) on Nakhon Phanom (NKP) RTAFB during the Vietnam War[5] and in 1983, Radar Bomb Scoring Division Detachment 24 operated a TSQ-96 for Radar Bomb Scoring in Guam.[6] Detachment 1, 1 CEVG La Junta, CO also used a TSQ-96. This radar was the one at Keesler AFB and previously Bergstrom AFB. The set was packed up at Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS by personnel from Detachment 8, 1 CEVG Richmond, KY and shipped to Detachment 1. Detachment 12, 1CEVG Hawthorne, NV had a TSQ-96 that had been transferred from Detachment 6, 1 CEVG Bayshore, MI.