AN/MSQ-1 explained

The Reeves AN/MSQ-1 Close Support Control Set produced by Reeves Instrument Corporation was a trailer-mounted combination radar/computer/communication ("Q" system) developed under a Rome Air Development Center program office (MPS-9 radar & OA-215) for Cold War command guidance of manned aircraft (e.g., those equipped with AN/APS-11A or AN/APW-11 avionics.) Developed for Korean War ground-directed bombing (e.g., B-26 bombers), one detachment of the 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Squadron bombed itself with an MSQ-1 because it mistakenly used procedures for the earlier SCR-584/OA-294 system (the MSQ-1 was later replaced by the Reeves AN/MSQ-2 Close Support Control Set.) The MSQ-1 was subsequently used for nuclear testing during Operation Teapot, and for aircraft tests such as for "MSQ-1 controlled pinpoint photography" in 1954 (RB-57A Canberra "Night Photo Bombing").[1]

The set had a direct current analog computer and was modified to use an alternating current computer for Matador Automatic Radar Control (AN/MSQ-1A) to guide MGM-1 Matadors and other unmanned aerial vehicles. The MSQ-1 was considered for guidance of the "XQ-5 Target" drone in 1957,

Air Force MSQ-1A units were carried aboard the USS Tarawa (CVS-40) and the USS Neosho (AO-143) to track Lockheed X-17s launched during the Operation Argus nuclear tests.

Radar stations

In addition to the Tadpole radar stations of the Korean War, a downrange AN/MSQ-1 for the Atlantic Missile Range had been at Florida's Jupiter Missile Guidance Annex in 1952,[2] and an MSQ-1 radar station on the United States Gulf Coast for the RB-57A tests.

See Also

Notes and References

  1. Interim Report: Project No. APG/TAT/122-A . Air Proving Ground Command . 4 May 2000 . 14 September 1954 . Operational Suitability Test of the RB-57A Aircraft . Eglin AF Base, Fla . DTIC AD-046 931 . Radar contact was frequently lost by the ground station when the aircraft was in banks of 15-20 degrees or more. This was attributed to the location of the [AN/APS-11A transponder] antennae on the aircraft. … All drops consisted of three bombs individually released with the aircraft intended to be directly over the target when the second bomb exploded. Bursting altitudes were computed for one-half of release altitude. … The RB-57A is suitable for night photographic reconnaissance when operating within range of either ground radar or Shoran installations.
  2. Citation 11 at https://fas.org/spp/military/program/6555th/6555C2-1.htm