Air Defense Direction Center

Not to be confused with Air Defense Operations Center or "ADCC (Blue Ridge Summit)".
Air Defense Direction Center
NORAD sector direction center (NSDC)[1]
United States

An Air Defense Direction Center[2]: 11  (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 ("weapons assignment").[3] As with the World War II Aircraft Warning Service CONUS defense network, a "manual air defense system"[4] was used through the 1950s (e.g., NORAD/ADC used a "Plexiglass [sic] plotting board" at the Ent command center.)[5]: 151  Along with 182 radar stations at "the end of 1957, ADC operated … 17 control centers",[5]: 223  and the Ground Observation Corps was TBD on TBD. With the formation of NORAD, several types of ADDCs were planned by Air Defense Command:

Most ADDCs were replaced by Regional Operations Control Centers of the Joint Surveillance System (FOC on December 23, 1980).[7]

  1. ^ Missile Master… (field manual), vol. FM44-1, United States Army, February 1963, AN/FSG-1 … f. Utilizes reference track data from local radars and voice communications with the NORAD sector direction center (NSDC) … 22. Normal Tracking The S & E officers and the trackers monitor the SAGE reference track data … 34. General … The two surveillance and entry consoles…are separated by a channel status unit … "Missile Master organic radars:" … SAGE SELECTOR two-position switch: Selects SAGE 1 or SAGE 2 (primary or secondary SAGE DC) as the source of SAGE data. … 45. Range-Height Subsystem a. Equipment. The range-height equipment consists of two RHI consoles (fig. 15) and two antenna control units
  2. ^ Preface by Buss, L. H. (Director) (1 October 1958). North American Air Defense Command Historical Summary: January–June 1958 (Report). Directorate of Command History: Office of Information Services.
  3. ^ Lincoln Laboratory memorandum 6M-3797 which cites "6M-3788, "Weapons Direction Requirements," R. Nelson) … SAGE designation of targets directly to AA batteries … CAPE COD DIRECTION CENTER … Memorandum 6M-2926-3, "Lighting Requirements for AN/FSQ-7 Direction Centers," … 6M-3772…Requirements for Separate Rani-Air Training Command Direction Center Facility"
  4. ^ In Your Defense (digitized movie). Narrated by Colonel John Morton. Western Electric. Retrieved 2012-04-03. The System Development Corporation…in the design of massive computer programs … Burroughs…electronic equipment … Western Electric…assist the Air Force in coordinating and managing the entire effort…and design of buildings. …SAGE project office…Air Material Command{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Schaffel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d Preface by Buss, L. H. (Director) (14 April 1959). North American Air Defense Command and Continental Air Defense Command Historical Summary: July–December 1958 (Report). Directorate of Command History: Office of Information Services.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference DelPapa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Lincoln Laboratory Memorandum 6M-3797: The operational specifications for the SAGE Direction Center (Schaffel p. 208 also identifies the term)
  9. ^ Philips, Alan F. "20 Mishaps That Might Have Started Accidental Nuclear War". Issues (Accidents) webpage. NuclearFiles.org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2013-05-04. At around midnight on October 25, a guard at the Duluth Sector Direction Center saw a figure climbing the security fence. He shot at it, and activated the "sabotage alarm." … and the Klaxon sounded which ordered nuclear armed F-106A interceptors to take off. … The original intruder was a bear.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference McMullin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).