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The Bomb Alarm System (also known as the Bomb Alarm Display System) was a US and UK network of optical
The Bomb Alarm System (also known as the Bomb Alarm Display System) was a US and UK network of optical bhangmeter
A bhangmeter is a non-imaging radiometer installed on reconnaissance and navigation satellites to detect atmospheric nuclear detonations and determine the yield of the nuclear weapon. They are also installed on some armored fighting vehicles, in ...
sensors intended to confirm the detonation of an enemy nuclear weapon near cities or military installations within the US or at US operated early warning radar sites in the UK or Greenland.
The BAS was designed by Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...
in 1959 and was in full operation by 1962. The BAS was the responsibility of the 9th Space Division
The 9th Space Division (9th SD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Force Space Command, being stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 October 1991.
History Tactical ...
. The BAS operated until 1967.
The BAS sensors were designed to report the occurrence of a nuclear flash via telephone or telegraph lines before the sensor was destroyed by the explosion. They were designed to ignore spurious signals from lightning, sunlight, or electrical surges.
See also
*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 ...
* Pinetree Line
The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across the northern United States and southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific coasts. ...
contemporary early warning RADAR.
* National Emergency Alarm Repeater
The National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR) was a civilian emergency warning device in the United States. It was a 2–3" (5–7.5 cm) square box designed to plug into a standard power outlet to receive a special signal sent over the electri ...
contemporary device.
References
Telecommunications equipment of the Cold War Western Union {{mil-stub