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General Electric AN/MPQ-14 Course Directing Central
Country of origin United States
Frequency 2,740 to 2,960 MHz[1]
Range 20,000 yd max, 500 yd min
Azimuth 360°
Power Peak 200 kw (83 db above 1 mw)

The General Electric AN/MPQ-14 Course Directing Central was a Cold War radar/computer/communication system for ground-directed bombing (GDB) during the Korean War and was the 2nd GDB system used by the United States Marine Corps (cf. AN/TPQ-2). The combination ("Q") system provided command guidance for an aircraft to reach a predetermined release point for attacks in bad weather and nighttime, and Korea GDB operations included 900 flown by USMC Vought F4U Corsairs,[2] e.g., VMA-251 flying "...four MPQ flights for the 7th Marines in the early hours of 24 July,..." 1953.[3]

Production and deployment[]

The AN/MPQ-14 was created under a production contract[when?] to General Electric, and the central used the radar model from the AN/TPQ-2 Close Air Support System, a diesel generator set, AN/MRW-4 & -3 radios, and from the AN/MSQ-7, [sic] the "guidance computer-transmitter set", data converter (spherical to rectangular computation), and "indicator-recorder" (plotting board).[1] "Housed and transported in two modified 3/4-ton trailers, two 2-1/2-ton trucks, one 3/4-ton 4x4 truck, and one mobile radar mount",[1] the USMC GDB team was ready for deployment to Korea in July 1951[4] after the USAF had begun Korean War GDB in 1950.[5] The AN/MPQ-14 was "moved into the" 1st Marine Division area[6] by the "First Marine Aircraft Wing"[4] near the 38th parallel north for guiding units such as the VMF-513 Corsair night-fighter squadron flying GDB from 15,000–20,000 feet. Initially cleared for use within[verification needed] a mile of friendly forces, by summer 1952 the Marines had Fifth Air Force permission to use the AN/MPQ-14 for close air support.[citation needed] A variant of the central, the AN/MPQ-14A, had different radar and communication subsystems, and MPQ-14 was also produced by the "Advance"[7] and "Ultrasonic"[8] companies.

ANTPQ-10 Radar at MASS-3

The AN/TPQ-10 Course Directing Central's[9] antenna dish (above) on a transportable mount is similar to the AN/MPQ-14 dish on a mobile radar mount. The successor to the MPQ-14, the TPQ-10 guided up to 105 missions/day during the Battle of Khe Sahn[10] and had a 50 yd (46 m) Circular Error Probable.[citation needed]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 MIL-HDBK-162A Volume 1 Section 1. United States Army. 15 December 1965. http://radar.tpub.com/TM-11-487C-1/TM-11-487C-10404.htm. Retrieved 2013-01-09. 
  2. http://www.607acw.org/tadpoles.html[full citation needed]
  3. Pat Meid; James M. Yingling (1957). The Sea Services in the Korean War, 1950–1953. Operations in West Korea, Chapter 9. Heavy Fighting Before the Armistice, Renewal of Heavy Fighting, 24–26 July, Note 37: U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland. p. 1859. Archived on 2000. Error: If you specify |archivedate=, you must also specify |archiveurl=. http://ia601209.us.archive.org/29/items/TheSeaServicesInTheKoreanWar1950-1953/The%20Sea%20Services%20in%20the%20Korean%20War%201950-1953.pdf. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Merrill, Capt Grayson (undated anecdote). "Innovation Wins Wars". Your story - Class of 1934. USNA Alumni Association and Foundation. http://www.usna.com/page.aspx?pid=599#Innovation. Retrieved 2013-01-07. "Perhaps the first cruise missile to fly from the sea range over California terrain was a LOON which transited the Santa Barbara Peninsula about 1947. …turned slowly north over Santa Cruz Island where the escort fighter exhausted its ammunition in a futile effort to shoot it down … [Dalby] was flying Loon simulation missions for Dr. Wagner who was then modifying the SCR-584 radar. It used a Reeves Instrument Co. plotting board to yield course changes, a warhead arming signal and a dump command to the Loon. …the story is best told by…LTGEN Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret)’s book “First to Fight” … Dalby explained that he had two aircraft flying at 18,000 feet and described how the system worked to drop a dummy bomb within 150 yards of a target to be selected by me! …I selected a nearby land feature and we waited. On the first run two inert bombs landed within 50 yards of the target. Someone else picked another target and the next run produced direct hits! … This was the first of many demonstrations… By July 1951 the team was ready to go to war." 
  5. http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100526-023.pdf
  6. U.S. Marine Corps Aviation[full citation needed]
  7. http://books.google.com/books?id=3WegnB4hNP8C&q=mpq-14#v=snippet&q=mpq-14&f=false
  8. http://radar.tpub.com/TM-11-487C-1/TM-11-487C-10403.htm
  9. http://research.archives.gov/description/1040918
  10. Krulak, Victor H (1984). "Chapter 7, The Marines' Push Button". First To Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-785-2. "AN TPQ-10 [in Vietnam] handled as many as 105 missions a day at Khe Sanh"  (quoted by Merrill)
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