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מוויקיפדיה, האנציקלופדיה החופשית
פיקוד ההגנה האווירית האמריקני (Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)) היה זרוע פיקוד מרכזית של חיל האוויר האמריקני בין השנים 1946 ו-1979, שהופקד על הגנת המרחב האווירי של ארה"ב. האיום העיקרי איתו נדרש הפיקוד להתמודד היה התסריט של חדירת של מפציצים אסטראטגיים סובייטיים חמושים בנשק גרעיני בדרכם. הפיקוד היווה נדבך משמעותי בכוחות הצבאיים של ארצות הברית במהלך המלחמה הקרה, והיה כוח משפיע בקידום הפיתוח של טכנולוגית תעופה צבאית, ובפרט מטוסי ירוט עתירי מהירות, מכשירי מכ"מ מתקדמים (קרקעיים ואוויריים) וטילי אוויר אוויר.
החל מסוף שנות השישים, יחד עם עליית קרנם של הטילים הבאליסטיים הביניבשתיים כנשק אסטראטגי, החל הפיקוד מאבד מחשיבותו, עד לביטולו הסופי ב-1979, והכפפת תפקידיו וכוחותיו תחת פיקוד האויר הטקטי (Tactical Air Command - TAC).
The organization was created by the War Department as the Air Defense Command on February 26, 1940. As a component of the U.S. First Army, its mission was to plan for and execute the air defense of the continental United States.
During World War II, the ADC operated four distinct air defense districts within the US. These were:
The primary mission of these Air Districts initially was to fly antisubmarine patrols. By the fall of 1942 these patrols, in conjunction with naval operations, had succeeded in driving off the German U-boat packs that had been taking such a heavy toll of shipping in the western Atlantic Ocean. In addition, ADC flew patrols in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, and along the west coast of the United States.
The antisubmarine mission was turned over to the Navy in 1943, and for the balance of the war, these commands trained aircrews for overseas deployments to the various war theaters. Later, as the threat of an attack by enemy forces on the US homeland diminished, they were primarily engaged in replacement crew training.
The ADC Air District structure was abolished in April 1944 along with Air Defense Command. The numbered air forces and their training mission was turned over to the USAAF Continental Air Forces training command.
The second iteration of Air Defense Command (ADC) was established on March 21, 1946 as a component of the United States Army Air Forces. The mission of ADC was defined to provide for the air defense of the United States. ADC was headquartered at Mitchel Army Airfield, New York.
As a result of limited budgets Air Defense Command was incorporated into Continental Air Command (ConAC) on December 1, 1948 and reduced to an operating agency. This was the result of an effort by the new USAF to concentrate all fighter forces deployed within the continental United States to strengthen the air defense of the North American continent.
The air defense mission received much more attention as Cold War tensions heightened. Following the explosion of a nuclear weapon by the Soviet Union in August 1949, the Air Force issued requirements for an operational air defense system by 1952. The perceived threat of an airborne atomic attack by the Soviet Union with its Tu-4 copy of the B-29 or Tu-95 strategic bomber force to the separation of Air Defense Command from ConAC, and its reestablishment as an Air Force major command, effective January 1, 1951 to counter the perceived Soviet threat. The reestablished Air Defense Command was headquartered at Ent AFB, Colorado.
תבנית:See also
The growth and development of the ADC air defense system grew steadily throughout the Cold War era. From four day-type fighter squadrons (FDS) in 1946, the ADC interceptor force grew to ninety-three (93) active Air Force fighter interceptor squadrons, seventy-six (76) Air National Guard fighter interceptor squadrons, several Naval fighter squadrons, USAF and USN airborne early warning squadrons, radar squadrons, training squadrons and numerous support units that have played important roles in our nation's defense.
Interceptor aircraft of Aerospace Defense Command were:
תבנית:See also
By 1953, a modern United States continental RADAR system had been completed and additional radar units were programmed to blanket the country with medium and high-altitude radar cover. At the same time, the decision was made to extend radar coverage as far from the American borders as possible. An agreement with Canada for mutual defense resulted in the extension of radar coverage into southern Canada in 1952 (the Pinetree Line), and permission was granted by the USAF to erect the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, which became operational under ADC control in 1958. The DEW line consisted of radars and continuous-wave stations along the Arctic Circle from Alaska to Greenland.
The massive construction project employed over 25,000 people. The line consisted of sixty-three stations stretching from Alaska to Baffin Island, covering almost 10,000 km. The project was finished in 1957 and was considered an engineering marvel. The next year, the line became a cornerstone of the new NORAD organization of joint continental air defence.
Quite quickly after its completion, the DEW line lost much of its purpose. It was useless against ICBMs and submarine-launched attacks. A number of stations were decommissioned, but the bulk were retained to monitor potential Soviet air activities and to assert Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic.
Work was begun in 1953 to erect a number of off-shore radars platforms known as Texas Towers to extend the range of RADAR into the Atlantic Ocean. To provide even more distant off-shore coverage, the Airborne Early Warning program was begun, consisting of two wings of Lockheed RC-121 Warning Stars. The RC-121s, EC-121s and Texas Towers, it was believed, would contribute to extending contiguous east-coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. In terms of the air threat of the 1950’s, this meant a gain of at least 30 extra minutes warning time of an oncoming bomber attack.
One of the Texas Towers (TT-4) collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean with significant loss of life in January 1961. The tragedy of TT-4, as much as anything else, sealed the fate of the others. While both remaining towers were immediately checked for safety and structural strength, and pronounced sound in this regard, their days were numbered. The entire project was ended in 1963, and the remaining facilities were decommissioned and sunk in 1964.
To provide far distant early warning of missile attacks, the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) was begun in 1958, with huge radar stations destined for Alaska, Greenland and England. These radars were capable of detecting missiles in flight, deep in the Soviet Union or in other similarly distant territory.
תבנית:Main
In 1953, development of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system began. It was destined to become the nerve center of air defense. It was an automated control system used by NORAD for collecting, tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft from the late 1950s into the 1980s. In later versions, the system could automatically direct aircraft to an interception by sending commands directly to the aircraft's autopilot.
The first of the SAGE sectors was put into operation in July 1958, and was rapidly joined by others in the eastern and northern United States during 1959 and 1960. This electronic network is based on the provision of digital computers and ancillary data-transmitting equipment at strategic locations throughout the country. A major purpose of this system is to provide instantaneous information to interceptor aircraft in flight as well as trigger other defensive measures.
By the time it was fully operational the Soviet bomber threat had been replaced by the Soviet missile threat, for which SAGE was entirely inadequate. Nevertheless, SAGE was tremendously important. It led to huge advances in online systems and interactive computing, real-time computing, and data communications using modems. It is generally considered to be one of the most advanced and successful large computer systems ever developed.
תבנית:See also תבנית:See for list of BOMARC missile units.
The Bomarc Missile Program (BOMARC IM-99A) was a joint United States of America-Canada effort between 1957 and 1971 to protect against the USSR bomber threat. It involved the deployment of tactical stations armed with Bomarc missiles along the east and west coasts of North America and the central areas of the continent.
The supersonic Bomarc missiles were the first long-range anti-aircraft missiles in the world. They were capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads. Their intended role in defence was in an intrusion prevention perimeter. Bomarcs aligned on the eastern and western coasts of North America would theoretically launch and destroy enemy bombers before the bombers could drop their payloads on industrial regions.
BOMARC and the SAGE guidance system were phased out in the late sixties as they were ineffective and costly. When the BOMARC missile was phased out, the SAGE guidance system (TDDL, Time-Division Data Link) continued to be used for sending commands to Nike missiles and interceptor autopilots.
תבנית:Main
The command and control of the massive North American air defense system was a significant challenge. Discussions and studies of joint systems between the United States and Canada had been ongoing since the early 1950s and culminated on August 1, 1957, with the announcement by the U.S. and Canada to establish an integrated command, the North American Air Defense Command. On September 12 operations commenced in Colorado. A formal NORAD agreement between the two governments was signed on May 12, 1958.
The ADC was renamed the Aerospace Defense Command on January 15, 1968. However, with the development of accurate, long-range Intercontinental ballistic missiles, the threat of enemy aircraft over United States airspace sharply diminished. Many ADC units were consolidated during the 1970s, and as the air defense of the United States shifted more and more to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, the need for ADC diminished. Many ADC Radar Squadrons and Air Defense Groups (Radar Squadrons with BUIC computers) continued operating well into the 1970s.
As part of a post-Vietnam realignment of military assets the air assets of ADC were assigned to Tactical Air Command in 1979. With this move many Air National Guard units that had an air defense mission also came under the control of TAC, which established a component called Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). ADTAC was headquartered at North American Aerospace Defense Command, Ent AFB Colorado. In essence, Tactical Air Command became the old Continental Air Command.
The Aerospace Defense Command was inactivated on March 31, 1980.
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