The Mark 8 Fire Control Computer was developed by Bell Laboratories during World War II. It was initially requested by the USN Bureau of Ordnance as an alternative to the Ford Instruments Mark I Fire Control Computer, in case supplies of the Mk I were interrupted or were unable to be manufactured in the required numbers. The Mk 8 computer used all electric methods of computation, in contrast to the Mk 1, which performed most computations via mechanical devices. The Mk 8 was found to be more accurate than the Mk 1 and substantially faster in reaching a fire control solution, but by the time it was developed and tested in 1944, supplies of the Mk 1 were found to be sufficient in quantity. The USN extensively tested the Mk 8 and may have incorporated some of its technology into the post war Ford Instruments Mk1A computer. The Mk 8 technology was similar to that used in the M9 gun data computer used by the US Army for coast defence fire control and in the

SCR-584 radar The SCR-584 (short for '' Set, Complete, Radio # 584'') was an automatic-tracking microwave radar developed by the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II. It was one of the most advanced ground-based radars of its era, and became one of th ...

system computer.

Notes

References

* {{cite journal , title = Electrical Computers for Fire Control , author1 = W.H.C. Higgins , author2 = B.D. Holbrook , author3 = J.W. Emling , url = https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/1982/03/man1982030218/13rRUxASuje , url-access = subscription , journal = Annals of the History of Computing , volume = 4 , issue = 3 , date = July–September 1982 , pages = 218–244 , publisher = IEEE , doi = 10.1109/MAHC.1982.10026 , s2cid = 18464927 , ref = {{SfnRef, Higgins, 1982 Anti-aircraft artillery Military computers Artillery operation Fire-control computers of World War II