Autonetics was a division of North American Aviation that produced various

avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...

but is best known for their

inertial navigation system An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity (dir ...

s used in submarines and

intercontinental ballistic missiles 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 c ...

. Its 188-acre facility in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, with 36,000 employees, was the city's largest employer. Through a series of mergers, Autonetics is now part of

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

Origin

Autonetics originated in North American Aviation's Technical Research Laboratory, a small unit in the Los Angeles Division's engineering department, in 1945. In 1946, the laboratory won an Army Air Forces contract to develop a 175 to 500 mile range glide missile. The work and the lab expanded, and by June 1948, all of the Aerophysics Laboratory was consolidated at Downey, California. The evolution of the Navaho missile program then resulted in the establishment of Autonetics as a separate division of North American Aviation in 1955, first located in Downey, moving to

in 1963.

Divisions

Autonetics included the Navigation Systems division, designing and producing

inertial In classical physics and special relativity, an inertial frame of reference (also called inertial reference frame, inertial frame, inertial space, or Galilean reference frame) is a frame of reference that is not undergoing any acceleration. ...

and stellar-inertial navigation systems for ships, submarines, missiles, aircraft and space vehicles. One of the automatic navigation systems produced by the division was the N-6 or NAVAN (North American Vehicle Auto Navigation) for the Navaho missile system. Other products included alignment devices and attitude reference systems for missile launchers, artillery, land survey, aircraft and missile-range ships. The Electro Sensor Systems division built multi-function radar systems, armament control computers, data and information display systems for high performance aircraft, and sensor equipment. The radar systems included the R-14 and F-15, which were multimode,

monopulse Monopulse radar is a radar system that uses additional encoding of the radio signal to provide accurate directional information. The name refers to its ability to extract range and direction from a single signal pulse. Monopulse radar avoids prob ...

systems. This family of radars was termed NASARR (North American Search And Ranging Radar). The R-14 system was installed in the USAF

F-105 Thunderchief The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Viet ...

and the more advanced F-15 system with

Terrain Following Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin wo ...

capabilities was developed for the USAF F-104 Starfighter which were also used by NATO, MAP, and the Canadian Air Force. Both radar systems allowed

Time On Target Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

(ToT) impact control capability with a high degree of accuracy. The R-14 and F-15 systems used (pre-solid state) electronic vacuum tubes in their designs. Both systems were developed, built and tested at the Downey (Slauson Avenue), and Anaheim facilities. The Data Systems division developed data-processing systems, general-purpose digital computers, ground support equipment, control systems and telemetry systems. Autonetics built an office computer system (RECOMP), and was responsible for the guidance and control system for the Boeing-built

Minuteman Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

missiles. The division ultimately produced the Monica family of microcomputers, the

D-17B The D-17B (D17B) computer was used in the Minuteman I NS-1OQ missile guidance system. The complete guidance system contained a D-17B computer, the associated stable platform, and power supplies. The D-17B weighed approximately , contained 1,521 ...

Minuteman I computer, and the D-37B and

D-37C The D-37C (D37C) is the computer component of the all-inertial NS-17 Missile Guidance Set (MGS) for accurately navigating to its target thousands of miles away. The NS-17 MGS was used in the Minuteman II (LGM-30F) ICBM. The MGS, originally designe ...

Minuteman II computers, in which micro-miniaturization reduced weight by two-thirds. Autonetics also developed and tested flight programs for the

D37D {{Short description, Military flight computer The D37D Minuteman III flight computer was initially supplied with the LGM-30G missile, as part of the NS-20 navigation system. The NS-20 D37D flight computer is a miniaturized general purpose (serial ...

Minuteman III computer. The 1966 Autonetics DDA integrator was the first MOS large scale array (LSA) using

four-phase logic Four-phase logic is a type of, and design methodology for dynamic logic. It enabled non-specialist engineers to design quite complex ICs, using either PMOS or NMOS processes. It uses a kind of 4-phase clock signal. History R. K. "Bob" Boo ...

. After producing the DDA and other MOS-LSA circuits, the team involved decided to design a general purpose computer suitable for navigation (sometimes called the MOS GP computer). The Autonetics D200 computer was built using MOS LSAs.

Milestones

* The first airplane flight of an inertial autonavigator (XN-1) in 1950. * The first flight of an all-solid-state computer (for the Navaho guidance system) in 1955. * The navigation system for the first submerged crossing of the North Pole, on board the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) in 1958.

References

External links

Autonetics division of Boeing
Avionics companies Boeing mergers and acquisitions

Origin

Divisions

Milestones

See also

References

External links