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IBM 473L Command and Control System

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The IBM 473L Command and Control System (473L System, 473L colloq.) was a USAF Cold War "Big L" Support System with computer equipment at The Pentagon and, in Pennsylvania, the Alternate National Military Command Center nuclear bunker. Each 473L site included a Data Processing Subsystem (DPSS), Integrated Console Subsystem (ICSS), Large Panel Display Subsystem, and Data Communications Subsystem (Automatic Digital Network interface: "AUTODIN Data Terminal Bay"). The "System 473L" was an "on-line, real-time information processing system designed to facilitate effective management of USAF resources, particularly during emergency situations" e.g., for: "situation monitoring, resource monitoring, plan evaluation, plan generation and modification, and operations monitoring". In 1967, the 473L System was used during the "HIGH HEELS 67" exercise "to test the whole spectrum of command in a strategic crisis".

Background

In early 1952, the Pentagon's USAF Command Post (AFCP) "arranged" to receive Air Defense Command (ADC) exercise data such as for planned mock attacks into defense sectors by faker aircraft (e.g., in 1955 on Amarillo, Denver, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, San Antonio and Phoenix.) An Experimental SAGE Subsector" for testing a Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was created using a July 1955 prototype air defense computer ADC's 1955 command post blockhouse was completed at Ent AFB, and "in September 1955, the Air Force…replace command post's outmoded telephone system with a modern switchboard with 100 long-distance lines and room for more, so that 20 people in various parts of the country could hold as many as four conferences at a time". The Alternate Joint Communication Center in the Raven Rock nuclear bunker was equipped by the end of 1955, and ADC broke ground in 1957 for deploying the Burroughs 416L SAGE Air Defense System (the BMEWS 474L General Operational Requirement was specified in 1958.) After President Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed concern about nuclear command and control, a "1958 reorganization in NCA relations with the joint commands" was implemented, and the "AWCS 512L" system was deployed by June 1958. The GOR for a computerized 465L SAC Automated Command and Control System was issued in 1958 for Strategic Air Command's nuclear bunkers (1957 Offutt AFB bunker & 1958 at The Notch). A Joint War Room was activated at the Pentagon in 1960 and in December 1960, the AFCP reverted to a USAF-only mission when its "joint and national responsibilities" ended. After a "Quick Fix" program completed in the fall of 1960 and NORAD's Alert Network Number 1 was providing data from the Ent AFB command post in Colorado Springs, the AFCP had several rear projection screens, DEFCON status boards, and a display with colored regional blocks for the Bomb Alarm System (work had started in May 1959 for transmitting BAS data to "six command centers".) In January 1962, the Deep Underground Command Center was planned as a nuclear bunker beneath the Pentagon (the Raven Rock bunker would be phased out.)

The Air Force Command Post Systems Division was activated in 1960 for handling AFCP equipment issues (cf. AFSC's Electronic Systems Division which had the SPO) and in October 1962, DoD Directive S-5100.30 "designated 473L as the “Air Force service headquarters subsystem” of the Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) established the same month."

OTC phase

The "Operational and Training Capability" (OTC) phase by IBM Federal Systems was the first stage of development for the 473 program. Each "Computer Communication Console" by TRW Space Technology Laboratories for OTC was part of the "DC400B/DIB display and interrogation system" that had 2 "10-inch CRT displays together with a sophisticated keyboard" This "temporary 473L system" had an IBM 1401 computer and IBM 1405 Disk Storage Unit. On January 1, 1963, ESD's 473L System Program Office was expanded (473L/492L SPO) with the added 492L responsibility for developing the United States Strike Command's Joint Airborne Communications Center/Command Post (SPOs were separated on June 15, 1965).

OUR phase

As an upgrade before the IOC phase, an IBM 1410 was leased in February 1964, and the IBM 1401 computer was phased out by April—revision of OTC software for the 1410 computer was by Project OUR (OTC Update and Revision).

IOC phase

The Librascope AN/FYQ-11 Data Processor Set was "a configuration of the L-3055" computer that Librascope manufactured at Glendale procured for the Initial Operational Capability phase with limited FYQ-11 equipment (e.g., without OA-6041 Control-Indicator Console). and only "4 integrated consoles". FYQ-11 had been accepted by the USAF Electronic Systems Division in late March 1965 to replace the IBM 1410 (each FYQ-11 was "234 cu ft 500 sq ft" area). The FYQ-11 had been proposed on February 19, 1962, for the Complete Operational Capability (dual AN/FYQ-11 sets with only a single OA-6041.) COC programs planned for the L-3055 included the "Deployment Monitor", "ACE-Tactical", and "ACE-Transport" (Computer Based Training on the FYQ-11 was also planned.) After FYQ-11 problems, the USAF Chief of Staff in 1966 cancelled the AN/FYQ-11 and the Comptroller was directed to dispose of "the L-3055 system's equipment" (1977 lawsuit claims by the 1968 Librascope parent--The Singer Company—were denied.)

Complete operational capability

A second IBM 1410 computer was installed by December 15, 1966, and the entire 473L System included:

AN/FYA-2 Integrated Data Transfer Console
The AN/FYA-2 ("473L Integrated Console" with Logic Keyboard Display (LKB) provided the fully equipped 473L operator environment—cf. AN/FYA-3 didn't have a Hard Copy Device (HC) for the Multicolored Display (MC), nor a Console Printer (CP); while the AN/FYA-4 only had an Electronic Typewriter/Display (RT) and CP. The console was run by a Monitor Program in the DPSS, and "operational capabilities exercised via operational capability overlays; that is, via plastic masks fitting over the logic keyboard portion of the operator console." The original COC plan was for DPSS output for 11 MCs and 15 CPs (i.e., 4 of the simplest AN/FYA-4 consoles for printing reports).
Query Language (473L Query)
Query Language was "very similar to the COLINGO query language and was "a constrained English language…for man-machine communication in System 473L. …to retrieve data from any file in the system or to perform certain other functions." For example, the code for airfields both within Brazil and within a 2000-mile great-circle distance of Brazilia is:
Retrieve airfields with country > Brazil, GCD (Brazilia » 2000)
Large Panel Display Subsystem
IT&T was awarded the May 1965 contract for the large 473L display which was to present information in both black and white and in color. In 1971 an Iconorama was still being used by "NORAD at the Air Force System 473L".
External image
image icon block diagram
image icon AN/FYQ-11 CPU Subsystem (p. 12)
Mass Memory Subsystem (p. 4)

References

  1. "473L System's AN/FYQ-11" (article transcript at scienceservice.si.edu). Electronics. July 30, 1964. Retrieved 2014-04-02. Air Force Command Post Systems Division under the USAF Deputy Chief… Built around two large computers and 25 other electronic units, the data-processing equipment will become the nerve center of USAF's 473L command-and-control system already at work in the Air Force Command Post at the Pentagon. … The 473L complex
  2. ^ Brown, C.B. (4 December 1962). 473L DPSS/ICSS Interface Description (Technical Memorandum) (Report). MITRE Corporation. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  3. ^ Programmer's Reference Manual For An L-3055 Data Processing System Used As The AN/FYQ-11 Data Processor Set. 15 September 1963. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2014-04-08. Central Processor, Control Console, and Core Memory … Buffer Processors …Magnetic Tape Consoles, Card Reader/Punch, and Line Printer…Disc Memory()
  4. ^ SINGER CO., LIBRASCOPE DIVISION v. UNITED STATES, 568 F.2d 695 (December 14, 1977) ("On October 16, 1962, the System Program Director forwarded to Librascope a draft of the interface specification that had been generated by the SIDG meetings. The accompanying transmittal document requested the 473-L contractor and subcontractors to review the draft specification … L-119 buffer processor").
  5. ^ "Figure 1-2. AN/FYQ-11 Data Flow and Switching Control Diagram", Programmer's Reference Manual For An L-3055 Data Processing System Used As The AN/FYQ-11 Data Processor Set, pp. 1–3, 1–4, archived from the original on 2016-03-03, retrieved 2014-04-06{{citation}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Appendix A of TR-66-261
  7. ^ Full text of "mitre :: ESD Technical Reports :: ESD-TR-65-171 Advanced Programming Developments A Survey Feb65". February 1965. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  8. ^ Wainstein, L. (Project Leader) (June 1975). The Evolution of U.S. Strategic Command and Control and Warning, 1945-1972 (Report). Institute for Defense Analyses.
  9. ^ Sturm, Thomas A. (August 1967). The Air Force Command and Control System: 1950-1966 (PDF) (Report). USAF Historical Division Liaison Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-16. Retrieved 2014-04-02. the Army maintained that the Air Force command and control network was insufficiently reliable to permit proper control of Army weapons in a crisis, and as a result the two services were, from a practical standpoint, poles apart on the issue of single control of weapons.
  10. "7th WING OPERATIONS HISTORY, 1955-1958". 7th BOMB WING B-36 ASSOCIATION Inc. 1981 - 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-10-06. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
  11. "Fairchild Wing To Get Trophy In Bomb Tests". Spokane Daily Chronicle. May 2, 1955. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  12. Preble, H.L. (September 1963). Data Reliability of Three Bell A1 Magnetic Tape Recording Systems (PDF) (Report). Mitre Corporation. ESD-TDR-63-172. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  13. Biweekly Report for 29 July 1955 (minutes) (Report). Lincoln Laboratory Division 6. Retrieved 2014-04-06. All XD-1 frames have now been delivered. The LRI and output frames arrived 29 July.
  14. "Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE)". Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  15. Sturm, Thomas A. (Summer 1969). Emergence of the Air Force Command and Control System. Aerospace Commentary (Report). Vol. 1:3. p. 42. (cited by Wainstein Study S-467 p. 119)
  16. ^ Antaccs Project (Midway Report) (Report). July 1964. Retrieved 2014-04-02. the first stage of the 473L program called the Operational and Training Capability (OTC) phase. This was implemented by IBM Federal Systems Division by the Introduction of the IBM 1401/1405 (disc) systems together with the DC400B/DIB display and interrogation system of Thompson Ramo Wooldridge. … System 473L uses configuration c) with two consoles and the IBM-140l computer. (text-only copy available at archive.org.)
  17. "Nuclear Attack to Trigger Automatic AF Alarm System". Bridgeport Post. March 7, 1960. Retrieved 2014-04-02. Brig.- Gen. J. B. Bestic, deputy for Air Force communications and electronics, disclosed details of the "atomic strike recording system" in testimony to a House Military Appropriations subcommittee
  18. Del Papa, Dr. E. Michael; Warner, Mary P (October 1987). A Historical Chronology of the Electronic Systems Division 1947–1986 (PDF) (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  19. "Climate for Ingenuity" (PDF). Librascope Memories. August 1965. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  20. "LIBRASCOPE L3055". A Fourth Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems. January 1964. BRL Report No. 1227. Archived from the original on 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  21. ^ Schiff, J.D.; Chenevert, M.L.; Bennett, W.F. (April 1966). Computer Directed Training: System 473L Query Language (PDF) (Report). ESD Decision Science Laboratory. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  22. O'Brien, John T. (7 October 1968), "Review of Technical Document [ESD-TR-66-261]" (letter), Computer Directed Training: System 473L Query Language, letter is last page of PDF: ESD Public Information Division, ESD-TR-66-261, archived (PDF) from the original on April 13, 2014
  23. Final Report of the First Phase of the Advanced Naval Tactical Command and Control Study (PDF). Vol. V–Technology. Informatics Inc. pp. V-3-9-V-3-10. Consoles tied to a core memory buffer which is connected to an IBM 1401 or 1410 at the Air Force Command Post (OTC of 473L). … Data Display Central 465L … LTV 7000 High Speed Display System
  24. "Console, Data Transfer, Integrated an-FYA-2, an-FYA-3 and an-FYA-4". Document Center, Inc. MIL-C-27114. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  25. Kinnersley, Bill. "The Language List Version 1.8 - Part 1 of 9". Newsgroup: comp.lang.misc. 473L Query - English-like query language for Air Force 473L system. Sammet 1969, p.665.)
  26. Kent, A.; Lancour, H. (1971). Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 5 - Circulation to Coordinate Indexing. Taylor & Francis. p. 398. ISBN 9780824720056. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
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