The gun data computer was a series of
artillery computers used by the
U.S. Army for
coastal artillery,
field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement.
Until the early 20t ...
and
anti-aircraft artillery
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
applications. In antiaircraft applications they were used in conjunction with a
director.
Variations
* M1: This was used by seacoast artillery for major-caliber seacoast guns. It computed continuous firing data for a battery of two guns that were separated by not more than . It utilised the same type of input data furnished by a range section with the then-current (1940) types of position-finding and fire-control equipment.
* M3: This was used in conjunction with the M9 and M10 directors to compute all required firing data, i.e.
azimuth,
elevation and fuze time. The computations were made continuously, so that the gun was at all times correctly pointed and the fuze correctly timed for firing at any instant. The computer was mounted in the M13 or M14 director trailer.
* M4: This was identical to the M3 except for some mechanisms and parts which were altered to allow for different ammunition being used.
* M8: This was an electronic computer (using vacuum tube technology) built by
Bell Labs and used by coast artillery with medium-caliber guns (up to ). It made the following corrections: wind, drift, earth's rotation, muzzle velocity, air density, height of site and spot corrections.
*
M9: This was identical to the M8 except for some mechanisms and parts which were altered to accommodate anti-aircraft ammunition and guns.
* M10: A ballistics computer, part of the M38 fire control system, for the
Skysweeper.
* M13: A ballistics computer for the
M48 tank.
* M14: A ballistics computer for the
M103 heavy tank
The M103 Heavy Tank (officially designated 120mm Gun Combat Tank M103, initially T43) was a heavy tank that served in the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps during the Cold War. Introduced in 1957, it served through 1974, b ...
.
* M15: A part of the M35 field artillery fire-control system, which included the M1 gunnery officer console and M27 power supply.
* M16: A ballistics computer for the
M60A1 tank.
* M18: FADAC (Field Artillery Digital Automatic Computer), an all-transistorized general-purpose digital computer manufactured by Amelco (
Teledyne Systems, Inc.,) and
North American—
Autonetics. FADAC was first fielded in 1960, and was the first
semiconductor-based digital electronics field-artillery computer.
* M19: A ballistics computer for the
M60A2 tank.
* M21: A ballistics computer for the
M60A3 tank.
* M23: A mortar ballistics computer
* M26: A fire-control computer for the
AH-1 Cobra, (AH-1F).
* M31: A mortar ballistics computer.
* M32: A mortar ballistics computer, (handheld).
* M1: A ballistics computer for the
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare and now one of the heaviest ta ...
main battle tank
Systems
* The Battery Computer System (BCS) AN/GYK-29 was a computer used by the
United States Army for computing
artillery fire mission data. It replaced the Field Artillery Digital Automatic Computer (FADAC) and was small enough to fit aboard the
HMMWV
The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ori ...
combat platform.
* The AN/GSG-10 TACFIRE system automated
Field Artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement.
Until the early 20t ...
command and control functions. It was composed of computers and remote devices such as the Variable Format Message Entry Device (VFMED), the
Digital Message Device (DMD) and the
Firefinder Field Artillery target acquisition
radar system linked by digital communications using existing radio and wire communications equipment. Later in its service life, it also linked with the Battery Computer System (BCS) which had more advanced targeting algorithms.
The last TACFIRE fielding was completed in 1987. Replacement of TACFIRE equipment began in 1994.
TACFIRE used the
AN/GYK-12
The AN/GYK-12 is an obsolete 32-bit minicomputer developed by Litton Industries for the United States Army. The AN/GYK-12 is a militarized version of the L-3050 computer ruggedized for use in the TACFIRE tactical fire direction system and in the ...
, a second-generation mainframe computer developed primarily by
Litton Industries for Army Divisional Field Artillery (DIVARTY) units. It had two configurations, division and battalion level, housed in mobile command shelters. Field Artillery Brigades also use the division configuration.
Components of the system were identified using acronyms:
* CPU (
central processing unit)
* IOU (input/output unit)
* MCMU (mass
core memory unit)
* DDT (digital data terminal)
* MTU (magnetic tape unit)
* PCG (power converter group)
* ELP (electronic line printer)
* DPM( digital plotter map)
* ACC (artillery control console)
* RCMU (remote control monitoring unit)
The successor to the TACFIRE system is the
Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System
Project Manager Mission Command (or PM MC) is a component of Program Executive Office Command Control Communications Tactical, Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical in the United States Army. PM MC develops, deplo ...
(AFATDS).
* The AFATDS is the "Fires XXI" computer system for both tactical and technical fire control. It replaced both BCS (for technical fire solutions) and IFSAS/L-TACFIRE (for tactical fire control) systems in U.S. Field Artillery organizations, as well as in maneuver fire support elements at the battalion level and higher. As of 2009, the U.S. Army was transitioning from a version based on a
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
SPARC computer running the
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
to a version based on laptop computers running the
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
operating system.
Surviving examples
One reason for a lack of surviving examples of early units was the use of
radium on the dials. As a result they were classified as
hazardous waste
Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. Hazardous waste is a type of dangerous goods. They usually have one or more of the following hazardous traits: ignitability, reactivity, co ...
and were disposed of by the
United States Department of Energy. Currently there is one surviving example of FADAC at the
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost .
The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...
artillery museum.
See also
*
Director (military)
*
Fire-control system
A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a ...
*
Kerrison Predictor
*
Mark I Fire Control Computer - US Navy system for 5-inch guns
*
Numerical control
Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a pi ...
*
Project Manager Battle Command
Project Manager Mission Command (or PM MC) is a component of Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Arm ...
*
Rangekeeper
References
{{reflist
* TM 9-2300 Standard Artillery and Fire Control Materiel dated 1944
* TM 9-2300 Artillery Materiel and Associated Equipment. dated May 1949
* ST 9-159 Handbook of Ordnance materiel dated 1968
Gun Data Computers, ''Coast Artillery Journal'' March–April 1946, pp. 45–47
External links
* http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1988/MJR.htm
* http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61.html#TOC
modern system* https://web.archive.org/web/20110617062042/http://sill-www.army.mil/famag/1960/sep_1960/SEP_1960_PAGES_8_15.pdf
Article title* https://web.archive.org/web/20040511174351/http://combatindex.com/mil_docs/pdf/hdbk/0700/MIL-HDBK-799.pdf
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110720002347/https://rdl.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/atia/adlsc/view/public/12288-1/FM/3-22.91/chap1.htm
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110617062233/http://sill-www.army.mil/famag/1958/FEB_1958/FEB_1958_PAGES_32_35.pdf
Bell labs patent* http://web.mit.edu/STS.035/www/PDFs/Newell.pdf
tacfireArchived a
BCS components
Military computers, *
Military electronics of the United States
Artillery operation
Applications of control engineering
Analog computers
Ballistics
World War II American electronics
Fire-control computers of World War II