| Country of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Reeves Instrument Corporation |
| Frequency | 2,740 to 2,960 MHz |
| Range | 20,000 yd max, 500 yd min |
| Azimuth | 360° |
| Power | Peak 200 kw (83 db above 1 mw) |
The AN/TPQ-2 Close Air Support System was a post-World War II radar/computer/communications system ("Q" system) for automatically tracking an aircraft and guiding it to a predetermined bomb release point. The system was the predecessor of the General Electric AN/MPQ-14 Course Directing Central deployed to the Korean War for ground-directed bombing.
| External images | |
|---|---|
 Pilotless Aircraft Unit cartoon | |
| Loon launched from submarine |
Background
After the Air Medal was awarded for development of ground-directed bombing in Italy for World War II Close Air Support, a detachment of NAS Mojave's "Pilotless Aircraft Unit" was established in 1945 on a SeaBee military installation at Point Mugu (4 officers and 11 enlisted men). A Bureau of Aeronautics committee's December 1945 Study of the Requirements for Pilotless Aircraft for Fleet Use in 1950 was approved 3 months later, and the KGW-1 Loon was 1 of its 18 missile proposals. The detachment's "Marine LtCol Marion Dalby and Dr. Herbert Wagner", the latter arriving by Operation Paperclip in early 1946, developed "NAVAIR’s TPQ-2 Close Air Support System" for command guidance of the KGW-1 Loon missile for submarine attacks on mapped Japanese "beach-head fortifications". Point Mugu development of the KGW-1 and its test launch facilities were by "Jack Schoenhair's gang" and included additional Operation Paperclip scientists "Willy Fiedler, Robert Lusser and Otto Schwede". The 1st KGW-1 launch was in January 1946, and its 1st submarine launch was February 12, 1947, using rocket assist developed by Robert Truax's team.
Description
The transportable AN/TPQ-2 included a World War II surplus SCR-584 radar and, as in the AN/MSQ-1, a Reeves Instrument Corporation analog computer for converting the radar's spherical coordinates to rectangular coordinates, and a Reeves "plotting board to yield course changes, a warhead arming signal and a dump command to the Loon". A "Marine F6F fighter" was to escort the KGW-1 for safety (e.g., to abort by shooting a missile straying back over land) and during simulated KGW-1 missions, MSgt. Clark. D Hayden used the system to instead control the crewed fighter. During Dalby's 2nd mission piloting a "Loon simulation flight" he "wondered why…prefer Loon over a two thousand lb. Bomb” from a piloted aircraft launched by a carrier. Dalby briefed Point Mugu's Director of Tests, Captain Grayson Merrill, when "both realized…we were talking about all-weather, close-air support system" and "Dalby and I conceived the idea of converting Close Air Support." Dalby and Cpt. Samuel A. Dressin redesigned the system (e.g., switched from the SCR-584 to the SCR-784 radar), and the TPQ-2 was demonstrated at Camp Pendelton in April 1950. Dalby claimed dummy bombs from 18,000 ft (5,500 m) would drop within 150 yd (140 m) of the target, and a direct hit on a terrain feature was observed by the 1st Marine Air Wing Chief of Staff. Lt. Col. Homer G. Hutchinson helped the project receive support including two F4U night-fighters and pilots for training.
References
- Y'Blood, William T. (2002). "Down in the Weeds: Close Air Support in Korea" (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-27.
- MIL-HDBK-162A Volume 1 Section 1. United States Army. 15 December 1965. Retrieved 2013-01-09.
- ^ Merrill, Capt Grayson (n.d.). "Innovation Wins Wars". Your story - Class of 1934. USNA Alumni Association and Foundation. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
Perhaps the first cruise missile to fly from the sea range over California terrain was a LOON which transited the Santa Barbara Peninsula about 1947. …turned slowly north over Santa Cruz Island where the escort fighter exhausted its ammunition in a futile effort to shoot it down … was flying Loon simulation missions for Dr. Wagner who was then modifying the SCR-584 radar. It used a Reeves Instrument Co. plotting board to yield course changes, a warhead arming signal and a dump command to the Loon. …the story is best told by…LTGEN Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret)'s book "First to Fight" … Dalby explained that he had two aircraft flying at 18,000 feet and described how the system worked to drop a dummy bomb within 150 yards of a target to be selected by me! …I selected a nearby land feature and we waited. On the first run two inert bombs landed within 50 yards of the target. Someone else picked another target and the next run produced direct hits! … This was the first of many demonstrations… By July 1951 the team was ready to go to war.
- ^ "Point Mugu, California". Playing With Fire. Archived from the original on 2014-03-15.
- "Rockets". Scientists & Friends. 2018.
- "Willys-Overland LTV-N-2 Loon". www.designation-systems.net.
- Krulak, Victor H (1984). "Chapter 7, The Marines' Push Button". First To Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-785-2.
AN TPQ-10 handled as many as 105 missions a day at Khe Sanh
(quoted by Merrill)