Professional Documents
Culture Documents
tracked the radar targets and guided fighter-intercep- development of the modern cruise missile and the re-
tors to engage the intruding aircraft. Although Lin- newed air-defense concerns it caused.
coln Laboratory’s primary responsibility was to invent Figure 2 puts more of the “twigs and leaves” on the
the needed command-and-control processes by using tree of Figure 1. The dates are approximate and the
the newly emerging technology of digital computers, numerous abbreviations are explained throughout
many developments in radar technology were also this issue. By no means did Lincoln Laboratory have
needed to provide the “clean” data demanded by the sole responsibility for every project depicted in Figure
computer. 2. This was an era of significant collaboration among
The tree of radar development shown in Figure 1 industry, government, and laboratory researchers,
quickly branched in the late 1950s to include missile and we acknowledge the contributions of a great
defense, and then branched again to include space number of organizations. For example, industry was
surveillance, fields driven by the Soviet Union’s rapid the main performer in radar systems such as
development of ballistic missiles and satellites. The BMEWS, Cobra Dane, and Cobra Judy. Lincoln
Vietnam conflict of the late 1960s occasioned further Laboratory played a significant but supporting role in
branching into radar technology for tactical battle- these projects. Also, much of the Laboratory’s contri-
field applications. This activity was followed in the bution to radar was not in the development of spe-
early 1970s by the branching into air traffic control cific radars but in the development of advanced radar
with the advent of a major program for the Federal techniques, associated technology, and the under-
Aviation Administration. The last major branch in standing of radar phenomenology. These topics are
the tree occurred in the late 1970s in response to the the focus of many of the articles in this special issue.
2000
1990
1980 Air
Defense
Tactical Air Traffic
1970 Surveillance Control
Space
1960 Surveillance Missile
Defense
Air Defense
1950 MIT Lincoln Laboratory
FIGURE 1. A conceptual radar “tree,” illustrating the five main areas of radar activity at Lincoln Laboratory. Research in
radar at the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II provided the foundation for early Lincoln Laboratory work on
an air-defense system called SAGE, or Semi-Automatic Ground Environment. Over time, this work branched into areas
of missile defense and air defense, which then branched further into additional programs in space surveillance, air traf-
fic control, and tactical surveillance.
Haystack TRADEX
AMRAD
Millimeter Lunar ARIS
1960
Project Mercury Wallops Island
Boston Hill
RSR
Space BMEWS High-Altitude Nuclear Tests
Surveillance Trinidad
Prince Albert Jug Handle Hill
FIGURE 2. The expanded radar “tree.” Lincoln Laboratory had varying degrees of involvement in the nearly one hundred radar
activities illustrated here. In most instances, the Laboratory was the principal developer. In some instances, U.S. industry was
the lead developer, and the Laboratory played a supporting role.
FIGURE 7. The UHF/L-band TRADEX radar on Roi-Namur FIGURE 8. The VHF/UHF ALTAIR radar on Roi-Namur Is-
Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. This sensor com- land, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. ALTAIR is a prime
bined outstanding performance capability with great flexibil- sensor for satellite tracking as well as for support of ballistic
ity in transmitted waveforms, tracking, and data recording. missile tests. After ALTAIR became an operational radar the
UHF subsystems of the TRADEX radar were replaced by S-
band subsystems.
fender. Under the Laboratory’s leadership, additional
radar and optical instrumentation was installed on penetration of Soviet ballistic-missile-defense systems
the island of Roi-Namur, on the northern tip of could be evaluated in a full-scale environment.
Kwajalein Atoll. The Laboratory operated the instru- The UHF/L-band TRADEX radar shown in Fig-
mentation radar and optics complex on Roi-Namur, ure 7 was the first radar constructed at Roi-Namur Is-
analyzed the reentry data gathered during many land. It was built by RCA under the technical direc-
launches, and distributed the results widely to the tion of Lincoln Laboratory. TRADEX was followed
ballistic-missile-defense community. by the VHF/UHF ALTAIR radar, shown in Figure 8,
Lincoln Laboratory also developed and operated which was built by Sylvania, also under the technical
airborne optical instrumentation to observe the ter- direction of Lincoln Laboratory. These two radars
minal phase of ballistic missile tests. Data gathered by were followed shortly by the C-band ALCOR radar,
this collection of tracking and measuring sensors were shown in Figure 9, which was built by Lincoln Labo-
combined to provide a comprehensive understanding ratory with support from industry. ALCOR provided
of the behavior of a reentering ICBM payload com- the nation’s first long-range wideband radar capabil-
plex, which might typically include multiple war- ity, and in the early 1970s it demonstrated the first
heads, decoys, and booster hardware. Attaining that high-resolution range-Doppler imaging of satellites.
understanding was critical for the development of ef- ALTAIR now has a space-surveillance mission as well
fective ballistic-missile-defense systems. It was also as its ballistic-missile-defense role. These radars, oper-
critical to U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy developers of ating at conventional radar frequencies, were later
ballistic missiles, wherein the steps to assure successful joined by millimeter-wave and laser radars.
FIGURE 10. The Cobra Judy phased-array radar (far right) in its sea-based configuration on the USNS Observa-
tion Island. Putting a radar such as Cobra Judy on a mobile platform adds greatly to a radar’s flexibility and utility.
FIGURE 11. The Cobra Gemini radar antenna (inside the large radome) in its sea-based configu-
ration on a T-AGOS-class ship, the USNS Invincible. The flexibility of a mobile platform allows
Cobra Gemini, like Cobra Judy, to be deployed where it is needed and when it is needed.
avoidance system designs, all of which would have re- since the inception of the moving-target indicator
quired separate transponders to be installed on all during World War II.
participating aircraft. A major question in the begin- Weather data from airport surveillance radars, or
ning of the TCAS program was the extent to which ASRs, are a vital part of the information provided to
air-to-air multipathing (transponder signals reflected air traffic controllers; approximately 130 ASR-9 sur-
from the ground) would interfere with reception, es- veillance radars are deployed at major airports across
pecially given the constraint to use the existing bea- the United States. In the 1990s, Lincoln Laboratory
con signal formats. These transponder signals were developed a processor augmentation card for the
originally developed for surveillance of aircraft from ASR-9 called the 9-PAC, which addresses challenging
the ground, using directional narrow-beam antennas. performance problems observed over the first five
Using the same signals for air-to-air surveillance years of this radar’s operation. Beacon problems that
might have been much more difficult because of the affected the ASR-9’s post-processing of merged skin-
multipath effects. tracked and beacon-tracked targets included the de-
Initially, Lincoln Laboratory conducted airborne tection of “phantom” aircraft caused by the reflection
measurements to quantitatively characterize air-to-air of the beacon interrogation signals off buildings and
multipath effects. The results showed that air-to-air other aircraft, and poor surveillance of parallel run-
multipathing is indeed a serious disturbance. Subse- way approaches due to garbling of reply pulses from
quently, the Laboratory built a flexible test bed for beacons on closely spaced aircraft. Skin-track radar
airborne experiments. Researchers conducted tests on problems included loss of tracks during parallel ap-
a number of techniques that would enable a collision- proaches and departures, the inability to track highly
avoidance system to tolerate multipath effects. The maneuverable military aircraft during high-G turns,
first reliable air-to-air surveillance was demonstrated radar clutter caused by automobile traffic and
in these tests. The favorable test results led to a deci- weather, and system overloading as a result of signal
sion by the FAA to use TCAS as the national basis for returns from flocks of migrating birds.
collision avoidance, and furthermore to modify the The 9-PAC processor augmentation card addresses
design of TCAS to accommodate the highest foresee- these problems by using significantly more capable
able densities of aircraft in the future. As a result, the radar post-processing algorithms, hosted on contem-
Laboratory developed enhancements to the basic de- porary data-processing hardware. The production
sign of TCAS, giving it the capability of operating in version of 9-PAC is under manufacture as of this
all environments. Beginning in the 1980s, standards writing and will be deployed nationally by the end of
were developed so that TCAS could be used interna- this decade.
tionally. Later in the 1980s, Congress enacted a law Severe weather—especially microbursts, with their
requiring TCAS on all air carriers in the United associated low-altitude wind shear—has been a major
States, following a transition period. Currently, all cause of fatal aviation accidents during recent de-
airliners operating in the U.S. airspace, both domestic cades. Starting in 1984, Lincoln Laboratory has con-
and foreign, are equipped with TCAS transponders. ducted a major radar investigation into the detection
One Lincoln Laboratory development under FAA of hazardous weather. A capable microwave test-bed
sponsorship led to a revolution in the design of air- radar was assembled and operated near the Memphis,
surveillance radars. The digital moving-target detec- Orlando, and Denver airports to characterize the
tor not only enhanced the use of primary, or skin- microburst phenomena in a variety of environments
tracking, radars for ATC, but it almost instantly and climatologies. Figure 21 shows the test-bed radar
changed the way military surveillance radars were de- at the Memphis airport. Figure 22 shows a radar-de-
signed [24]. The engineers who developed the mov- rived map of the weather velocity field in an area con-
ing-target detector put together a number of diverse taining microbursts.
digital techniques to solve moving weather-clutter Signal-processing and data-processing algorithms
and ground-clutter problems that had limited radars were developed and tested to demonstrate that
FIGURE 22. Radar-derived map of the weather velocity field indicating the
presence of microbursts in the vicinity of an airport.
The reader can now turn to the following articles 4. R.R. Everett, ed., “SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environ-
in this issue, which describe many interesting radar ment),” special issue, Ann. Hist. Comput. 5 (4), 1983.
5. G.E. Valley, Jr., “How the SAGE Development Began,” Ann.
programs in greater detail. The choice of programs for Hist. Comput. 7 (3), 1985, pp. 196–226.
these articles reflected a consensus of opinions from 6. “The SAGE Air Defense System,” MIT Lincoln Laboratory:
Technology in the National Interest, chap. 2, pp. 15–33.
those whom we surveyed. We commiserate with those 7. T.P. Hughes, Rescuing Prometheus (Pantheon Books, New York,
whose favorite programs are not included, but the fi- 1998), chap. II: “MIT as System Builder: SAGE,” pp. 15–67.
nal article in this issue of the Lincoln Laboratory Jour- 8. J.R. Zacharias and A.G. Hill, Final Report of Summer Study
Group 1952, vol. 2, Lincoln Laboratory (10 Feb. 1953).
nal may provide some consolation: it is a photo al- 9. IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society 1991 Pioneer
bum of interesting special radar hardware from the Award for Contributions to Improved Airborne Moving-Tar-
get Radar Systems; presented to Fred M. Staudaher, Melvin
past fifty years. Labitt (Lincoln Laboratory), and Frank R. Dickey, Jr., IEEE
Lincoln Laboratory is justifiably proud of its first Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst. 27 (6), 1991, pp. 957–972.
half-century of radar development. We confidently 10. “Early-Warning Systems,” MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Technology
in the National Interest, chap. 3, pp. 35–49; “Ballistic Missile
look forward to the next half-century—well into the Defense,” chap. 6, pp. 79–99.
new millennium—for continuing challenges and 11. IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society 1988 Pioneer
Award for Contributions to Pulse Compression Techniques for
continuing fun developing new and better radars. Radar Systems; presented to Charles E. Cook and William M.
Siebert (Lincoln Laboratory), IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron.
Acknowledgments Syst. 24 (6), 1988, pp. 823–837.
12. W.G. Clay, M. Labitt, and R.E. Slattery, “Measured Transition
The editors and authors of this special issue acknowl- from Laminar to Turbulent Flow and Subsequent Growth of
edge the enormous contributions from literally thou- Turbulent Wakes,” AIAA J. 3 (5), 1965, pp. 837–841.
13. L.J. Sullivan, “The Early History of Reentry Physics Research
sands of Lincoln Laboratory engineers, scientists, at Lincoln Laboratory,” Linc. Lab. J. 4 (2), 1991, pp. 113–132.
technicians, and support staff whose radar accom- 14. Such activities were reciprocal during the Cold War. Soviet
plishments over a fifty-year span are chronicled in this “trawlers” (intelligence-gathering ships) and submarines were
sometimes seen in the vicinity of Kwajalein Atoll at times when
issue of the Journal. These people are far too numer- missile tests were scheduled.
ous to cite individually. Their innovation, creativity, 15. IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society 2000 Pioneer
Award for Development of the Millstone Hill and Haystack
and dedication to improving the nation’s radar capa- Space Surveillance Radars; presented to Herbert G. Weiss (Lin-
bility are to be greatly admired. Perusing this issue coln Laboratory), IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst. 37 (1),
places one in awe of what they have accomplished! 2001, pp. 361–379.
16. It is worth noting that the detection and tracking of satellites
We also wish to acknowledge all those who helped is no longer a radar-only task. Optical systems for detecting and
us create this special issue, particularly the Lincoln tracking satellites using reflected sunlight are eminently prac-
tical. There can be helpful synergy between the two.
Laboratory Journal staff, the Lincoln Laboratory Pub- 17. H.G. Weiss, “The Haystack Microwave Research Facility,”
lications group, the Laboratory Library, and especially IEEE Spectr. 2 (2), 1965, pp. 50–69.
the Library’s archivists. The daunting task of getting 18. “Space Science,” MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Technology in the
National Interest, chap. 7, pp. 100–109; “Space Surveillance,”
these many articles released for public distribution chap. 8, pp. 111–127.
was handled most capably by Barbara Raymond. 19. It also allowed a radar-based Fourth Test of General Relativity
that illustrated once again that Einstein was right. I.I. Shapiro,
G.H. Pettengill, M.E. Ash, M.L. Stone, W.B. Smith, R.P.
Ingalls, and R.A. Brockelman, “Fourth Test of General Relativ-
ity: Preliminary Results,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 20 (22), 1968, pp.
REFERENCES 1265–1269.
20. J.B. Billingsley, “Multifrequency Measurements of Radar
1. R. Buderi, The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Ground Clutter at 42 Sites,” Technical Report 916, vols. 1–3,
Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Lincoln Laboratory (15 Nov. 1991), DTIC #ADA-246710,
Launched a Technological Revolution (Simon & Schuster, New #ADA-246711, and #ADA-246988.
York, 1996). 21. Linc. Lab. J. 2 (3), 1989.
2. “Five Years at the Radiation Laboratory,” 1991 IEEE MTT-S 22. Linc. Lab. J. 7 (2), 1994.
Int. Microwave Symp., June, 1991 (originally presented to 23. “Air Traffic Control Technology,” MIT Lincoln Laboratory:
former members of the Radiation Laboratory by MIT, Cam- Technology in the National Interest, chap. 15, pp. 235–247.
bridge, 1946). 24. C.E. Muehe and M. Labitt, “Displaced-Phase-Center An-
3. E.C. Freeman, ed., MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Technology in the tenna Technique,” in this issue.
National Interest (Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Mass.,
1995).