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DEW Line
The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Project Stretchout and Project Bluegrass), in addition to the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It was set up to detect incoming bombers of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and provide early warning of any sea-and-land invasion. The DEW Line was the northernmost and most capable of three radar lines in Canada and Alaska. The first of these was the joint Canadian-United States Pinetree Line, which ran from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island just north of the Canada–United States border, but even while it was being built there were concerns that it would not provide enough warning time to launch an effective counterattack. The Mid-Canada Line (MCL) was proposed as an inexpensive solution using bistatic radar. This provided a "trip wir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
The RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS, "474L System", Project 474L) was a United States Air Force Cold War early warning radar, computer, and communications system, for ballistic missile detection. The network of twelve radars, which was constructed beginning in 1958 and became operational in 1961, was built to detect a "mass ballistic missile attack launched on northern approaches or15 to 25 minutes' warning time" also provided Project Space Track satellite data (e.g., about one-quarter of SPADATS observations). Background The Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) was a radar system built by the United States (with the cooperation of Canada and Denmark on whose territory some of the radars were sited) during the Cold War to give early warning of a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) nuclear strike, to allow time for US bombers to get off the ground and land-based US ICBMs to be launched, to reduce the chances that a preemptive str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newfoundland (island)
Newfoundland (, ; french: link=no, Terre-Neuve, ; ) is a large island off the east coast of the North American mainland and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It has 29 percent of the province's land area. The island is separated from the Labrador Peninsula by the Strait of Belle Isle and from Cape Breton Island by the Cabot Strait. It blocks the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, creating the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. Newfoundland's nearest neighbour is the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. With an area of , Newfoundland is the world's 16th-largest island, Canada's fourth-largest island, and the largest Canadian island outside the North. The provincial capital, St. John's, is located on the southeastern coast of the island; Cape Spear, just south of the capital, is the easternmost point of North America, excluding Greenland. It is common to consider all directly neighbouring i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preemptive War
A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war ''shortly before'' that attack materializes. It is a war that preemptively 'breaks the peace'. The term 'preemptive war' is sometimes confused with the term ' preventive war'. The difference is that a preventive war is launched to destroy the potential threat of the targeted party, when an attack by that party is not imminent or known to be planned. A preemptive war is launched in anticipation of immediate aggression by another party. Most contemporary scholarship equates preventive war with aggression, and therefore argues that it is illegitimate.Shue, Henry and Rhodin, David (2007). ''Preemption: Military Action and Moral Justification''. Oxford University Press. p. 116. The waging of a preemptive war has less stigma attached than does the waging of a preventive war. The initiatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. Russia, the United States, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs. Early ICBMs had limited precision, which made them suitable for use only against the largest targets, such as cities. They were seen as a "safe" basing option, one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack. Attacks against military targets (especially hardened ones) still demanded th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Warfare
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can produce destruction in a much shorter time and can have a long-lasting radiological result. A major nuclear exchange would likely have long-term effects, primarily from the fallout released, and could also lead to secondary effects, such as " nuclear winter", nuclear famine and societal collapse. A global thermonuclear war with Cold War-era stockpiles, or even with the current smaller stockpiles, may lead to various scenarios including the extinction of the human race. To date, the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict occurred in 1945 with the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 6, 1945, a uranium gun-type device (code name "Little Boy") was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Magnetic North Pole. The North Pole is by definition the northernmost point on the Earth, lying antipodally to the South Pole. It defines geodetic latitude 90° North, as well as the direction of true north. At the North Pole all directions point south; all lines of longitude converge there, so its longitude can be defined as any degree value. No time zone has been assigned to the North Pole, so any time can be used as the local time. Along tight latitude circles, counterclockwise is east and clockwise is west. The North Pole is at the center of the Northern Hemisphere. The nearest land is usually said to be Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast of Greenland about away, though some perhaps semi-permanent gravel banks lie slightly clos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Circle
In mathematics, a great circle or orthodrome is the circular intersection of a sphere and a plane passing through the sphere's center point. Any arc of a great circle is a geodesic of the sphere, so that great circles in spherical geometry are the natural analog of straight lines in Euclidean space. For any pair of distinct non- antipodal points on the sphere, there is a unique great circle passing through both. (Every great circle through any point also passes through its antipodal point, so there are infinitely many great circles through two antipodal points.) The shorter of the two great-circle arcs between two distinct points on the sphere is called the ''minor arc'', and is the shortest surface-path between them. Its arc length is the great-circle distance between the points (the intrinsic distance on a sphere), and is proportional to the measure of the central angle formed by the two points and the center of the sphere. A great circle is the largest circle that c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Warning System
The North Warning System (NWS) is a joint United States and Canadian early-warning radar system for the atmospheric air defense of North America. It provides surveillance of airspace from potential incursions or attacks from across North America's polar region. It replaced the Distant Early Warning Line system in the late 1980s. Overview The NWS consists of both long range AN/FPS-117 and short range AN/FPS-124 surveillance radars, operated and maintained by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). There are 13 long range sites and 36 short range sites. In Canada, the station sites are owned or leased by the Government of Canada, which also owns most of the infrastructure. The radars and tactical radios are owned by the United States Air Force. The Alaska Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC) at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska controls the stations in Alaska; the Canada East and Canada West Regional Operations Control Centres (ROCCs) at CFB North Bay, Ontario control the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shamrock Summit
The Shamrock Summit was the colloquial name given to the March 17–18, 1985 meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and US President Ronald Reagan in Quebec City. It gained this nickname because of the Irish background of the two leaders and because the meeting started on St. Patrick's Day. The summit was capped by a televised gala, which ended with Mulroney, Reagan and their wives singing'' When Irish Eyes are Smiling'', which publicly exemplified the camaraderie between the two leaders. Documents later revealed that American officials saw the summit as an excellent chance to mend relations between the two countries in the post-Pierre Trudeau era. Among the many issues discussed in a busy 24-hour schedule were military planning, upgrading the DEW line to use modern electronics, a landmark agreement on the control of acid rain, and the formal signing of the Pacific Salmon Treaty and the "Canada-US Declaration on Goods and Services", the first major step towards th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile components of the United States military's strategic nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992. SAC was also responsible for the operation of strategic reconnaissance aircraft and airborne command post aircraft as well as most of the USAF's aerial refueling fleet, including aircraft from the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and Air National Guard (ANG). SAC primarily consisted of the Second Air Force (2AF), Eighth Air Force (8AF) and the Fifteenth Air Force (15AF), while SAC headquarters (HQ SAC) included Directorates for Operations & Plans, Intelligence, Command & Control, Maintenance, Training, Communications, and Personnel. At a lower echelon, SAC headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept, and Strategic Communicat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
55th Parallel North
The 55th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 55 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the sun is visible for 17 hours, 22 minutes during the summer solstice and 7 hours, 10 minutes during the winter solstice. This latitude also roughly corresponds to the minimum latitude in which nautical twilight can last all night near the summer solstice. Around the world Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 55° north passes through: : Notable cities and towns on 55°N *Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia *Omsk, Omsk Oblast, Russia *Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia *Derry, Northern Ireland, UK *Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK *South Shields, England, UK. *Thompson, Manitoba, CA *Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada Use as a boundary The 55th parallel serves as the southern boundary of Nunavik territory in Quebec. See also *54th pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bistatic Radar
Bistatic radar is a radar system comprising a transmitter and receiver that are separated by a distance comparable to the expected target distance. Conversely, a conventional radar in which the transmitter and receiver are co-located is called a monostatic radar. A system containing multiple spatially diverse monostatic or bistatic radar components with a shared area of coverage is called ''multistatic radar''. Many long-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems use semi-active radar homing, which is a form of bistatic radar. Types Pseudo-monostatic radars Some radar systems may have separate transmit and receive antennas, but if the angle subtended between transmitter, target and receiver (the bistatic angle) is close to zero, then they would still be regarded as monostatic or pseudo-monostatic. For example, some very long range HF radar systems may have a transmitter and receiver which are separated by a few tens of kilometres for electrical isolation, but as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
