Western Electric M-33 Antiaircraft Fire Control System

Western Electric M-33 Antiaircraft Fire Control System
Country of origin United States
Design: Bell Telephone Laboratories
Production: Western Electric
Operations: Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery Command (ARAACOM)
Introduced
Type automatic tracking radar system for gun laying
Range 125,000 yd (62 nmi; 71 mi)[1]
Diameter 8 ft Fresnel lens (1¼° pencil beam)[2]
Azimuth 360° (6400 mils)
Elevation -10⅛° to +90° ("-180 mils to +1,600 mils")[3]

The Western Electric M-33 Antiaircraft Fire Control System ("M-33 fire-control system",[4] "Antiaircraft Fire Control System M33", "AA FCS M33"[3]) was an X-Band "Gunfire Control Radar", for aiming antiaircraft artillery by computer control. Developed for mobility via 3 trailers, the "M-33 system could compute, for the 90-mm. and 120-mm. guns, firing data for targets with speeds up to 1,000 mph",[5]:207 and for targets at 120,000 yards had similar gun laying accuracy as "SCR-584 type radars" at 70,000 yards.[1] The system included a telescopic "target selector" on a tripod near the guns for additional measurement of aircraft "azimuth and elevation data [to] be transmitted to the computer and utilized as gun directing data."[3]

The M-33 was deployed overseas and as part of the CONUS "manual air defense system"[6] for which Army Air Defense Command Posts telephoned foe aircraft information to the M-33 units which used its surveillance board to mark targets using grease pencil.[3]

Development and deployment

In 1944, the US Army contracted[7] for an electronic "computer with guns, a tracking radar, plotting boards and communications equipment" (M33C & M33D models used different subassemblies for 90 & 120 mm gun/ammunition ballistics.)[3] The "trial model predecessor" (T-33) was used as late as 1953,[8] and the production M33 (each $383,000 in 1954 dollars)[9] had been deployed in 1950.[10] The 34th AAA Brigade's 90mm guns were converted to the M-33 by December 3, 1954, after the 95th AAA Brigade had been upgraded.[9] Aberdeen Proving Ground[11] and Fort Bliss were training posts for M-33 personnel, and by 1957 there were 3 Ordnance Detachments in Germany for M33 Integrated Fire Control Repair—150th (Wiesbaden), 151st (Mannheim), & 152nd (Kaiserslautern) Ord Det (IFCR);[12] and functional test sites included the White Sands Proving Ground ranges (e.g., "Hueco Range No. 3). The M33 was also used for satellite tracking in 1961.[13]

Successors

By December 1955 the T38 Antiaircraft Fire Control System with T9 radar tracker and T27 computer (variant E2) had been developed for the "completely integrated antiaircraft weapon designated as the Skysweeper" with T84 75-mm AA guns.[14] The M-33 was later "utilized as a basic building block" by Strategic Air Command for the early 1960s Reeves AN/MSQ-35 Bomb Scoring Central[15] (the M33 tracking console was used for the Vietnam War's AN/MSQ-77, AN/TSQ-81, & AN/TSQ-96 Bomb Directing Centrals).

M-33s were later used for geological/meteorological research (1966 San Clemente Island,[16] 1978 Winston Field,[17] Penn State, Univ of Wyoming, & 1963 Austin.[18]

External images
military illustration of M-33 installation
photos at Oscura Range Camp WSMR

References

  1. 1 2 Tufft, 2nd Lieutenant A. H. (July–August 1953). "30th AAA Group Evaluation Tests". Antiaircraft Journal: 31. The range factor for the SCR 584 modified for 90,000 yards range is 70. The range factor for the M33 with maximum range of 125,000 yards is 120. In the event of an SCR 584 that has not been modified for 90,000 yards, a ratio may be set up to determine the actual range factor to be used. NOTE: "Range Factor" normalized scores for units using different gun laying systems (e.g., M33 by "A" Battery, 1st Battalion) and reduced unit scores for the more accurate M33 compared with batteries using "SCR-584 type radars" (e.g., "B" battery 3rd Battalion). In particular, M33 units received 100% for tracking if radar lock began at 120,000 yards, while units with modified SCR-584 systems received 100% tracking scores for initial lock at 90,000 yards. (Total score was the average of those for tracking, battery strength, and probability of kill based on the computed fuze setting transmitted to the guns when firing was commenced: e.g., a 100% average was "Target Destroyed".)
  2. ↑ http://armymunitions.tpub.com/mm50058/mm500580221.htm
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Section II. DESCRIPTION…". Antiaircraft Fire Control System M33C and M33D Operation (Technical Manual 9-6092-1-1) (Report). United States Army. June 1956. (partial transcription at: "Fire Control Systems". Army Air Defense in the European Theater. USArmyGermany.com. Retrieved 2013-03-24.)
  4. ↑ Western Electric. "Jet Bombers Won't Wait…" (full page advertisement). Life magazine. (fresnel antenna on top of trailer along helmeted soldier on ground looking skyward, 3 guns firing in background, moving jeep at right)
  5. ↑ History of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense, 1945-1955: Volume I (PDF). [LASHUP] Stations were undermanned, personnel lacked training, and repair and maintenance were difficult. This stop-gap system later would be replaced by a 75-station, permanent net … To be closer to ConAC, ARAACOM moved to Mitchel AFB, New York on 1 November 1950.
  6. ↑ In Your Defense (digitized movie). Morton, Colonel John (narrator). Western Electric. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  7. ↑ "Nike Missile Development Overview" (unsourced monograph). TheMilitaryStandard. Retrieved 2013-03-24. In 1938. the United States initiated development of an integrated antiaircraft defense system. That investment resulted in the development of the 90mm gun, standardized in February 1940. Using the M-9 director radar system. the 90mm gun could hit aircraft flying at 30,000 feet, and the combination of the 90mm gun and M-9 radar proved successful in World War II against the German V-1 rockets.
  8. ↑ author tbd (March–April 1953). "title tbd". W.E. journal (Western Electric Co., Inc.). (reprinted in "The Long Watch". Antiaircraft Journal: 35. July–August 1953. July 17 [1953] marked the closing of the Fort Bliss OCS. … Hueco Range No. 3 where the Army's new "Skysweeper" [was] fired at radio-controlled targets … extensive Troop Test on the Skysweeper at Camp Roberts… The Skysweeper is the first successful Antiaircraft Artillery weapon utilizing an on-carriage, integrated fire control system composed of a gun-laying radar, computer, and associated fire control equipment. p. 53
  9. 1 2 "M33 Integrated Fire Control Repair". Stars and Stripes (newspaper). December 3, 1954. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
  10. ↑ "Figure D-6. Abbreviated Chronology USAD C³: System Developments", History of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense, 1945-1955: Volume I, p. 245
  11. ↑ "alt.military.retired". alt.military.retired: "Trivia Question" thread. Dec 28, 1999. Archived from the original (newsgroup anecdote) on 2013-03-26. 'The M33 the Air Force used was the same one that the Army used. We sent our people to the Army school at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland until we got established in our own right. (the announcement for the Army Air Forces radar school to move from Boca Raton to Keesler Field was in late May 1947.)
  12. ↑ Stars and Stripes (newspaper), January 30, 1957
  13. ↑ De Lange, O.E. (July 1961). Project Echo: Satellite Tracking Radar. The Bell System Technical Journal (Report).
  14. ↑ "Section I. INTRODUCTION AND DESCRIPTION". Improved Antiaircraft Fire Control System T38 Operation (Technical Manual 9-3026-1) (Report). United States Army. December 1955. (partial transcription at: "Fire Control Systems". Army Air Defense in the European Theater. USArmyGermany.com. Retrieved 2013-03-24.)
  15. ↑ MIL-HDBK-162A: AN/MSQ-39 Radar Bomb Scoring Central, USAF, 15 December 1965, retrieved 2012-05-18 (Tpub.com transcription) Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  16. ↑ Geological and Geophysical data of field activity D-4-66-SC in San Clemente Island, CA from 07/30/1966 to 08/09/1966 (Report). USGS. (abstract retrieved 2013-03-22)
  17. ↑ Processing of the M-33 Snyder, Texas Radar Data LP-120 (pdf) (Report). March 1980.
  18. ↑ http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0429529
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