IBM 473L Command and Control System: Difference between revisions

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The '''IBM 473L Command and Control System''' ('''473L System''', '''473L''' [[colloquialism|colloq.]]) was a USAF{{r|SIedu}} [[Cold War]] "[[Support System|Big L]]" [[Support System]] with computer equipment at [[The Pentagon]] and, in Pennsylvania, the [[Raven Rock Mountain Complex|Alternate National Military Command Center nuclear bunker]]. Each 473L site included a Data Processing Subsystem (DPSS), Integrated Console Subsystem (ICSS),{{r|Brown}} Large Panel Display Subsystem, and Data Communications Subsystem{{r|PRM}} ([[Automatic Digital Network]] interface:<ref name=Singer>{{Cite court |date=December 14, 1977 |litigants=SINGER CO., LIBRASCOPE DIVISION v. UNITED STATES |vol=568 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=695 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YLGRAAAAIAAJ&dq=IT%26T+473L&pg=PA699 |quote=On October 16, 1962, the System Program Director forwarded to Librascope a draft of the interface specification that had been generated by the SIDG meetings. The accompanying transmittal document requested the 473-L [DPSS] contractor and subcontractors to review the draft specification … L-119 [[Data buffer|buffer processor]]}}</ref> "AUTODIN Data Terminal Bay").{{r|Figure1-2}} The "System 473L" was an "on-line, real-time information processing system designed to facilitate effective management of USAF resources, particularly during emergency situations"{{r|AppendixA}} e.g., for: "situation monitoring, resource monitoring, plan evaluation, plan generation and modification, and operations monitoring".<ref name=TR65-171>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/bitsavers_mitreESDTe65171AdvancedProgrammingDevelopmentsASur_5291796/ESD-TR-65-171_Advanced_Programming_Developments_A_Survey_Feb65_djvu.txt |title=Full text of "mitre :: ESD Technical Reports :: ESD-TR-65-171 Advanced Programming Developments A Survey Feb65"|access-date=2015-03-08|date=February 1965}}</ref> In 1967, the 473L System was used during the "HIGH HEELS 67" exercise "to test the whole spectrum of command in a strategic crisis".{{r|Wainstein}}{{rp|430}}

==Background==

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==IOC phase==

The [[Librascope AN/FYQ-11 Data Processor Set]]{{r|Figure1-2}} was "a configuration of the L-3055" computer that [[Librascope]] manufactured at [[Glendale, California|Glendale]]<ref name="librascopememories">{{cite web |url=http://www.librascopememories.com/Librascope_Memories/History_files/Climate%20for%20Ingenuity%20-%201965.pdf |title=Climate for Ingenuity |date=August 1965 |website=Librascope Memories |access-date=2015-03-08 |archive-date=2014-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144522/http://www.librascopememories.com/Librascope_Memories/History_files/Climate%20for%20Ingenuity%20-%201965.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> procured for the Initial Operational Capability phase with limited FYQ-11 equipment (e.g., without OA-6041 Control-Indicator Console).<ref name=PRM>{{Cite manual |title=Programmer's Reference Manual For An L-3055 Data Processing System Used As The AN/FYQ-11 Data Processor Set |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/generalPrecision/L-3055/L-3055_Programmers_Reference_Manual_Sep63.pdf |date=15 September 1963 |access-date=2014-04-08 |quote=Central Processor, Control Console, and Core Memory … Buffer Processors …Magnetic Tape Consoles, Card Reader/Punch, and Line Printer…Disc Memory |archive-date=2014-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413124456/http://www.marksmath.com/files/librascope/prm-01.html |url-status=dead }}()</ref> and only "4 integrated consoles".{{r|Brown}} FYQ-11 had been accepted by the USAF [[Electronic Systems Division]] in late March 1965{{r|Sturm1967}}{{rp|39}} to replace the IBM 1410 (each FYQ-11 was "234&nbsp;cu ft [and required] 500&nbsp;sq ft" area).<ref name="googleusercontent">{{cite web |url=http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL64-l.html#LIBRASCOPE-L3055 |work=A Fourth Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems |id=BRL Report No. 1227 |title=LIBRASCOPE L3055 |date=January 1964 |access-date=2015-03-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916184557/http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL64-l.html#LIBRASCOPE-L3055 |archive-date=2015-09-16}}</ref> The FYQ-11 had been proposed on February 19, 1962, for the Complete Operational Capability{{r|Singer}} (dual AN/FYQ-11 sets with only a single OA-6041.){{r|PRM}} COC programs planned for the L-3055 included the "Deployment Monitor", "ACE-Tactical", and "ACE-Transport"{{r|TR66-261}}<!--Appendix B--> ([[Computer Based Training]] on the FYQ-11 was also planned.)<ref>{{Citation |format=letter |last=O'Brien |first=John T. |date=7 October 1968 |title=Review of Technical Document [ESD-TR-66-261] |publisher=ESD Public Information Division |___location=letter is last page of PDF |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD0483236.pdf |work=Computer Directed Training: System 473L Query Language |id=ESD-TR-66-261 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141220/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/483236.pdf |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> After FYQ-11 problems, [[John P. McConnell (general)|the USAF Chief of Staff]] in 1966 cancelled the AN/FYQ-11 and the [[Comptroller General of the United States|Comptroller]] was directed to dispose of "the L-3055 system's equipment"{{r|Sturm1967}} (1977 lawsuit claims by the 1968 Librascope parent--[[The Singer Company]]—were denied.)

==Complete operational capability==

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<ref name=SIedu>{{Cite journal |journal=Electronics |date=July 30, 1964 |title=473L System's AN/FYQ-11 |url=http://scienceservice.si.edu/pages/052125.htm |format=article transcript at scienceservice.si.edu |access-date=2014-04-02 |quote=[[Air Force Command Post Systems Division]] under the USAF Deputy Chief… Built around two large computers and 25 other electronic units, the data-processing equipment will become the nerve center of USAF's 473L command-and-control system already at work in the Air Force Command Post at the Pentagon. … The 473L complex}}</ref>

<ref name=Sturm1967>{{Cite report |last=Sturm |first=Thomas A. |date=August 1967 |title=The Air Force Command and Control System: 1950-1966 |url=http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-110429-030.pdf |publisher=USAF Historical Division Liaison Office |access-date=2014-04-02 |quote=the Army maintained that the Air Force command and control network was insufficiently reliable to permit proper control of Army weapons [e.g., [[Nike missile]]s] in a crisis, and as a result the two services were, from a practical standpoint, poles apart on the issue of single control of weapons. |archive-date=2013-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216195235/http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-110429-030.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=TR66-261>{{Cite report |number=ESD-TR-66-261 |title=Computer Directed Training: System 473L Query Language |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD0483236.pdf |first1=J.D. |last1=Schiff |first2=M.L. |last2=Chenevert |first3=W.F. |last3=Bennett |publisher=ESD Decision Science Laboratory |date=April 1966 |access-date=2022-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141220/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/483236.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=April 13, 2014}}</ref>

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[[Category:Cold War military computerComputer systems of the United States Air Force]]

[[Category:Equipment of the United States Air Force]]

[[Category:United States nuclear command and control]]