Semi Automatic Ground Environment - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was an automated control system for tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft used by NORAD

North American Aerospace Defense Command

North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...

from the late 1950s into the 1980s. In later versions, the system could automatically direct aircraft to an interception by sending instructions directly to the aircraft's autopilot

Autopilot

An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...

.

By the time SAGE was completely operational, the Soviet bomber threat had been replaced by the Soviet missile threat, for which SAGE was entirely inadequate. Nevertheless, SAGE was extremely important; it led to great advances in online

ONLINE

ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....

systems and interactive computing

Interactive computing

In computer science, interactive computing refers to software which accepts input from humans — for example, data or commands. Interactive software includes most popular programs, such as word processors or spreadsheet applications. By comparison, noninteractive programs operate without human...

, real-time computing

Real-time computing

In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...

, and data communications using modem

Modem

A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...

s. It is generally considered to be one of the most advanced and successful large computer systems ever developed.

Both MIT and IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

supported the project as contractors. IBM's role in SAGE (the design and manufacture of the AN/FSQ-7

AN/FSQ-7

The AN/FSQ-7 was a computer model developed and built in the 1950s by IBM in partnership with the US Air Force. Fifty-two were built and used for command and control functions for the Semi Automatic Ground Environment air-defense system...

computer, a vacuum tube computer with ferrite

Ferrite (magnet)

Ferrites are chemical compounds consisting of ceramic materials with iron oxide as their principal component. Many of them are magnetic materials and they are used to make permanent magnets, ferrite cores for transformers, and in various other applications.Many ferrites are spinels with the...

core memory based on the never-built Whirlwind II

Whirlwind (computer)

The Whirlwind computer was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is the first computer that operated in real time, used video displays for output, and the first that was not simply an electronic replacement of older mechanical systems...

) was an important factor leading to IBM's domination of the computer industry, accounting for more than a half billion dollars in revenue, nearly 10% of IBM's income in the late 1950s.

Background

Prior to the introduction of SAGE, the task of intercepting bombers was becoming increasingly difficult. This was the latest shift in a balance of power that had been see-sawing since the 1930s.

During the years just prior to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, it was widely believed that the bomber was essentially immune, at least in any practical sense. As speeds approached 200 mi/h the time between seeing the bomber and its reaching its targets was becoming so brief that there was no time for interceptor aircraft

Interceptor aircraft

An interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent missions of enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Interceptors generally rely on high speed and powerful armament in order to complete their mission as quickly as possible and set up...

to climb to altitude. Once the bombs were released the multi-engine bombers often had a performance advantage over the fighters, allowing them to escape with relative ease. The only apparent solution to this problem would be to keep fighters in the air on-station at all times, a practical impossibility because of the brief flight times of contemporary fighters. Thousands of fighters would be needed to keep enough of them in the air at any one time to defend against a raid of perhaps a hundred bombers. Most believed "the bomber will always get through

The bomber will always get through

The bomber will always get through was a phrase used by Stanley Baldwin in 1932, in the speech "A Fear for the Future" to the British Parliament...

".

The development of radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

seriously changed this expectation. Radar gave just enough warning time for fighters to "scramble" and be at the bomber's altitude by the time they arrived. In modern terms, radar is a "force multiplier", allowing a small number of fighters to handle the task that would otherwise require many more aircraft. As the interception was now being directed by radar screens on the ground, and started at ranges well beyond visual, a system was needed to relay interception instructions to the aircraft. Speeds of the aircraft of the era were such that this task could be performed by people. The Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

, for instance, used a large map with markers representing various radar contacts, with controllers relaying positions and directions to the aircraft by radio.

During the post-war era, the speed of the new jet-powered aircraft increased by a factor of two to three, similarly decreasing the available effective response time. In a general sense this should not have caused a problem; although the bombers were approaching much faster and gave less warning time, the fighters intercepting them were also much faster and could climb to altitude in minutes. But it was all of the other tasks that caused the problem. These tasks included collecting information about the targets from the radar sites, computing where they were going (developing a track), and then guiding the fighters to intercept them. Even the time needed for the pilots to get into the cockpit from their ready rooms nearby became a significant issue as the overall mission times decreased.
A study during the 1950s by the RCAF concluded that it would take on the order of one minute per interception. With flight times on the order of an hour by several hundred aircraft, some were bound to escape interception because of operator overload. The balance shifted toward the attackers again. With nuclear bombs potentially on board, this was unacceptable.

The problem became even more acute if the bombers attacked at low level. Radar is line-of-sight, so by approaching close to the ground they would remain hidden behind the curvature of the Earth until approaching to within a few tens of miles. With a jet bomber, this meant the defenders had only a few minutes to react, far too little time to launch an interceptor, let alone guide it to an intercept.

History

It was this problem that particularly bothered Dr. George E. Valley, an MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

physics professor. In order to provide any sort of protection for the entire USA, a series of radar stations would have to span both coasts and across Canada. In the event of a raid, there would simply be far too many reports to be able to successfully guide interception. His solution was automation

Automation

Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...

, connecting all of the radar sites to a computer which would then control all of the incoming and outgoing flow of information. The interception operator's workload would be greatly reduced; they simply had to tell the computer which targets to attack, and perhaps choose what assets to use. All of the communications would be handled by the computer, and would be effectively instantaneous.

This would require the system to update the operators in real time

Real-time computing

, and the only system in the world capable of doing this in 1948 when Valley studied the problem was the Project Whirlwind

Whirlwind (computer)

computer at MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

. The Whirlwind project, originally intended to control a US Navy flight simulator to train bomber crews, had developed problems and the Navy was losing interest. Valley talked to Jay Forrester, director of the Whirlwind project, and together they wrote a study proposal to use Whirlwind for air defense.

The United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

was interested, and in 1949 they provided funding under the name Project Charles to develop a demonstration system. Information from several radars in the Cape Cod

Cape Cod

Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...

area was forwarded to the Whirlwind, which then developed tracks for the targets being reported. The Cape Cod System

Cape Cod System

The Cape Cod System was a computer system designed to simulate an air defense system covering southern New England. It was named after Cape Cod, the location of many of the radars.-History:...

was a qualified success, and the Air Force took over the project under Project Claude, moving development to the new MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Lincoln Laboratory

MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and development activities focus on long-term technology development as well as...

in 1954. Making a military-grade version of the Whirlwind was a massive project that required close connections between Lincoln Laboratory, industrial partners who would build the machines and communications, and the military. In order to provide oversight and management during the deployment phase, MITRE

MITRE

The Mitre Corporation is a not-for-profit organization based in Bedford, Massachusetts and McLean, Virginia...

was formed in 1958 to take over the project.

Production of the resulting machines, known technically as the AN/FSQ-7

AN/FSQ-7

, was awarded initially to RCA

RCA

RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...

but later given to IBM, who started production in 1958. The buildings and internal power supply communications, and the 24 sectors systems integration and test were provided by Western Electric

Western Electric

Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...

, phone lines by the Bell System

Bell System

The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...

, and the software, 500,000 lines of assembly language

Assembly language

An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...

, by a spin-off of RAND Corporation

RAND

RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities...

called System Development Corporation

System Development Corporation

System Development Corporation , based in Santa Monica, California, was considered the world's first computer software company.SDC started in 1955 as the systems engineering group for the SAGE air defense ground system at the RAND Corporation...

(SDC).

Description

The AN/FSQ-7

AN/FSQ-7

is physically the largest computer ever built, and will likely hold that record for the future. Each machine used 55,000 vacuum tube

Vacuum tube

In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...

s, about ½ acre

Acre

The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

(2,000 m²) of floor space, weighed 275 tons and used up to three megawatts of power. Although the machines used a large number of vacuum tubes, the failure rate of an individual tube was low due to efforts in quality control

Quality control

Quality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:...

and a novel quality assurance system called marginal checking that discovered tubes that were growing weak, before they failed. Each SAGE site included two computers for redundancy, with one processor on "hot standby" at all times. In spite of the poor reliability of the tubes, this dual-processor design made for remarkably high overall system uptime

Uptime

Uptime is a measure of the time a machine has been up without any downtime.It is often used as a measure of computer operating system reliability or stability, in that this time represents the time a computer can be left unattended without crashing, or needing to be rebooted for administrative or...

. 99% availability was not unusual.

SAGE sites were connected to multiple radar stations which transmitted tracking data (range and azimuth) in digitized format by modem

Modem

over ordinary telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

lines. These digitized inputs were automatically prepared from analog radar inputs by the AN/FST-2B (or successor, AN/FYQ-47) at the radar stations. The SAGE computers then collected the tracking data for display on a CRT

Cathode ray tube

The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...

as icons. Situation Display (SD) console operators at the center could select any of the "targets" on the display with a light gun

Light gun

A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...

, and then display additional information about the tracking data reported by the radar stations. Up to 150 operators could be supported from each center. Each SD operator console was equipped with an integral cigarette lighter and ashtray.

SAGE site operators could also request height data when needed from their CRT. These height requests were digitized and sent to a radar station that was tracking the "targets". At the radar station, the height requests were displayed to an operator on an analog Range Height Indicator (RHI) CRT display by moving the height cursor. The operator then centered the height cursor on the "target" and depressed a button to send the updated height information back to the SAGE site in much the same way as the tracking data.

When a target was of interest, SAGE also helped the operator to select a proper response. Reports similar to those from the radar stations kept the SAGE system up to date with information on the availability and status of various weapons and aircraft, including all airfields, BOMARC and Nike Hercules anti-aircraft missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

sites. When the operator chose one of these to intercept the target, orders would automatically be sent via teletype to local controllers who would take control. Additional messages would also be sent to higher headquarters, as well as other SAGE centers.

In normal operation, communications between the SAGE centers and the interceptor aircraft was relayed via radio equipment at the radar sites, which were more widely spread out than the SAGE centers themselves. A properly equipped aircraft, like the F-106 Delta Dart

F-106 Delta Dart

The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it has proven to be the last dedicated interceptor in USAF service to date...

, could feed the SAGE directions into the autopilot

Autopilot

and fly "hands off" to the interception. Older aircraft, which were common when SAGE was first being deployed, could be directed by voice.

On occasion, SAGE weapons directors would get "fam flights" (familiarization flights) on board two-seat interceptors like the F-94 Starfire

F-94 Starfire

The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was the United States Air Force's first operational jet-powered all-weather interceptor aircraft. It was a development by Lockheed of the twin-seat T-33 Shooting Star trainer aircraft.-Design and development:...

, F-89 Scorpion

F-89 Scorpion

The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an early American jet-powered fighter designed from the outset as an all-weather interceptor. Though its straight wings limited its performance, it was among the first USAF jet fighters with guided missiles, and notably the first combat aircraft armed with air-to-air...

, F-101B Voodoo, and various versions of the F-4 Phantom. This was done, in order for the weapons director to gain working knowledge of the ever improving radar systems, and for timing & systems calibration. Various versions of the EC-121 Warning Star

EC-121 Warning Star

The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star was a United States Navy and United States Air Force airborne early warning radar surveillance aircraft. A military version of the Lockheed Constellation, it was designed to serve as an airborne early warning system to supplement the Distant Early Warning Line,...

were also utilized under the SAGE system.

Deployment

A massive building program started along with continued work on the computer systems and communications, with the first groundbreaking at McChord AFB in 1957. The buildings were huge above-ground concrete bricks that were often placed near cities without the residents being aware of what they were. The first SAGE Division became operational in Syracuse, New York

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

in January 1959, and by 1963 the system was already complete with 22 Sector Direction Centers and three similar Combat Centers. When NORAD

North American Aerospace Defense Command

was set up another site was added at CFB North Bay

CFB North Bay

Canadian Forces Base North Bay, also CFB North Bay, is an air force base located at the City of North Bay, Ontario about north of Toronto. The base is subordinate to 1 Canadian Air Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is the centre for North American Aerospace Defense Command operations in Canada,...

in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, although in this case the entire SAGE system was buried approximately 700 feet (213.4 m) underground in what became known as "the hole".

The total engineering effort for SAGE was immense. Total project cost remains unknown, but estimates place it between 8 and 12 billion 1964 dollars (60–90 billion 2011 dollars), more than the Manhattan Project

Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...

that developed the nuclear bomb that SAGE defended against.

The SAGE system was operational until 1983, when it was replaced by newer systems and airborne control. The North Bay system ran until 1983 when it was dismantled and sent to The Computer Museum

The Computer Museum, Boston

The Computer Museum was a Boston, Massachusetts museum that opened in 1979 and operated in three different locations until 1999. It was once referred to as TCM and is sometimes called the Boston Computer Museum....

in Boston. In 1996 the remainder was moved to Moffett Federal Airfield

Moffett Federal Airfield

Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located between northern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale, California, USA. The airport is near the south end of San Francisco Bay, northwest of San Jose. Formerly a United States Navy facility, the former...

for storage and is now in the collection of the Computer History Museum

Computer History Museum

The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...

in Mountain View, California

Mountain View, California

-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...

.

Questions about the ability of the SAGE system to actually handle a "hot war" situation were continuous. On one occasion SAC

Strategic Air Command

The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

was able to penetrate the defenses, and on other occasions huge flocks of seabirds were tracked as a potential bomber attack. A more serious problem was that by the time the system was fully operational, the USSR

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

had already started deploying ICBMs, making SAGE largely useless.

To protect against the possibility of SAGE sites being disabled and possibly rendering the defense impotent, the Air Force also developed the Back Up Interceptor Control System (BUIC), a sort of mini-SAGE located at some of the radar sites that normally fed the SAGE system.

In peacetime SAGE was, for all intents, an air traffic control

Air traffic control

Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...

system and it influenced the design of the FAA

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

's automated control systems. The system also gave IBM valuable insight, and it was not long after that the CEO of American Airlines

American Airlines

American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...

met one of the IBM people involved in SAGE by accident on a flight, and soon the two companies were developing the SABRE

Sabre (computer system)

Sabre Global Distribution System , owned by Sabre Holdings, is used by more than 55,000 travel agencies around the world with more than 400 airlines, 88,000 hotels, 24 car rental brands, and 13 cruise lines...

airline reservation system.

Other major SAGE developments included:

CRT-based real-time user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
use of wide-area communications via modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...

s
The installation, operation, and logistic support of over 100 long range radar stations located throughout the US as part of the Air Defense Command

Direction Centers/Combat Centers

Adair AFS, Oregon 44°40′15"N 123°12′58"W

Portland Air Defense Sector

The Portland Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 25th Air Division, being stationed at Adair Air Force Station, Oregon. It was inactivated on 1 April 1966.- History :...

(DC-13)

Beale AFB, California 39°06′35"N 121°23′49"W

San Francisco Air Defense Sector

The San Francisco Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 28th Air Division, being stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California.- History :...

, (DC-18)

Duluth IAP, Minnesota 46°50′10"N 092°12′26"W

Duluth Air Defense Sector

The Duluth Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 30th Air Division, being stationed at Duluth Airport, Minnesota...

, (DC-10)

Fort Custer, Michigan 42°19′18"N 085°16′00"W

Detroit Air Defense Sector

The Detroit Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 26th Air Division, being stationed at Custer Air Force Station, Michigan...

(DC-06)

Fort Lee AFS, Virginia 37°15′09"N 077°19′21"W

Washington Air Defense Sector

The Washington Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 26th Air Division, being stationed at Fort Lee Air Force Station, Virginia...

(DC-04)

Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota 47°56′47"N 097°22′55"W

Grand Forks Air Defense Sector

The Grand Forks Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 29th Air Division, being stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base , North Dakota...

(DC-11) (Demolished)

Gunter AFB, Alabama 32°24′13"N 086°14′28"W

Montgomery Air Defense Sector, (DC-09)

Hamilton AFB, California
Hamilton Air Force Base
Hamilton Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located along the western shore of San Pablo Bay, south of Novato, California.-History:...

38°03′16.97"N 122°30′56.71"W

Headquarters Western NORAD Region, (CC-05)

Hancock Field, New York 43°07′19"N 076°06′01"W

Syracuse Air Defense Sector

The Syracuse Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 26th Air Division, being stationed at Syracuse Air Force Station, New York.- History :...

, (DC-03), (CC-01)

K. I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan 46°20′47"N 087°23′00"W

Sault Sainte Marie Air Defense Sector

The Sault Sainte Marie Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 30th Air Division, being stationed at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan.- History :...

(DC-14)

Larson AFB, Washington 47°10′53"N 119°19′16"W

Spokane Air Defense Sector

The Spokane Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 25th Air Division, being stationed at Larson Air Force Base, Washington.-History:...

, (DC-15)

Luke AFB, Arizona 33°32′34"N 112°21′27"W

Phoenix Air Defense Sector

The Phoenix Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 28th Air Division, being stationed at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona...

, (DC-21)

Malmstrom AFB, Montana 47°30′59"N 111°10′55"W

Great Falls Air Defense Sector

The Great Falls Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 29th Air Division, being stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base , Montana...

(DC-20)

McChord AFB, Washington 47°07′18"N 122°30′14"W

Seattle Air Defense Sector (DC-12), (CC-03)

McGuire AFB, New Jersey 40°01′51"N 074°34′32"W

New York Air Defense Sector, (DC-01)

Norton AFB, California 34°06′19"N 117°13′05"W

Los Angeles Air Defense Sector (DC-17)

Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri 38°50′47"N 094°32′50"W

Kansas City Air Defense Sector

The Kansas City Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 29th Air Division, being stationed at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, Missouri...

, (DC-08), (CC-06)

Sioux City AFS, Iowa 42°23′51"N 096°22′25"W

Sioux City Air Defense Sector

The Sioux City Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 29th Air Division, being stationed at Sioux City Air Force Station , Iowa.-History:...

(DC-22)

Stead AFB, Nevada 39°39′04"N 119°53′00"W

Reno Air Defense Sector

The Reno Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 28th Air Division, being stationed at Stead Air Force Base, Nevada.-History:...

(DC-16)

Stewart AFB, New York 41°30′01"N 074°06′22"W

Boston Air Defense Sector

The Boston Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force Air Defense Command organization. Its last assignment was with the ADC 26th Air Division, being stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, New York.-History:...

(DC-02), (CC-04)

Topsham AFS, Maine 43°56′42"N 069°57′46"W

Bangor Air Defense Sector

The Bangor Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 26th Air Division, being stationed at Topsham Air Force Station, Maine...

(DC-05) (Demolished)

Truax Field, Wisconsin 43°07′36"N 089°20′06"W

Chicago Air Defense Sector

The Chicago Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 30th Air Division, being stationed at Truax Field, Wisconsin...

(DC-07), (CC-02)

Canada:

North Bay, Ontario 46°20′15"N 079°24′42"W

Goose Air Defense Sector

The Goose Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 26th Air Division, being stationed at Goose Air Force Base, Labrador, Canada. It was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and replaced by the 37th Air Division.-History:Command and control...

22nd NORAD Region and Northern NORAD Region (DC-31) (Underground)

Planned but not built:

Calypso AFS, North Carolina

Raleigh Air-Defense Sector (planned)

England AFB, Louisiana

Shreveport Air-Defense Sector (planned)

Fort Knox, Kentucky

Fort Knox Air-Defense Sector (planned)

Kirtland AFB, New Mexico

Albuquerque Air-Defense Sector (never built)

Minot AFB, North Dakota

Minot Air-Defense Sector (never built)

Robins AFB, Georgia

Miami Air-Defense Sector (planned)

Scott AFB, Illinois

St. Louis Air-Defense Sector (planned)

Webb AFB, Texas

San Antonio Air-Defense Sector (planned)

Use in Hollywood

When some of the older SAGE memory units were replaced, they found new life as props in:

Irwin Allen

Irwin Allen

Irwin Allen was a television and film director and producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. He was also notable for creating a number of television series.- Biography :...

's Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is an American science fiction film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, released by 20th Century Fox in 1961. The story was written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett. Walter Pidgeon starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson, with Robert Sterling as Captain Lee Crane...

.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is a 1972 science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the fourth of five films in the original Planet of the Apes series produced by Arthur P. Jacobs. It explores how the apes rebelled from mankind's ill treatment following Escape from the Planet of...

External links

On Guard! The Story of SAGE (12 minute film at the Prelinger Archives)
INTRODUCTION TO AN/FSQ-7 COMBAT DIRECTION CENTRAL AND AN/FSQ-8 COMBAT CONTROL CENTRAL Original IBM "manual" including floor plans and information flow diagrams for a SAGE installation and operation
MITRE History - Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Photo Archives

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Background

History

Description

Deployment

Direction Centers/Combat Centers

Use in Hollywood

See also

Further reading

External links