Missile Facilities

Construction of a 100 million-dollar Air Force facility, where units will be trained to handle intercontinental ballistic missiles, has been started. The installation is scheduled to go into full operation within 18 months. The training center will be located

available for testing the intercontinenta ballistic missile, will not be fully prepare for operation for at least a year. Compre hensive tests of rockets with ranges of 5,500 miles will be possible when the track ing stations on Brazil's Fernando de No ronha Island and Great Britain's Ascen sion Island are completed. The other 10 tracking stations of the network, the south ernmost of which is 1,400 miles from the Canaveral, Florida, launching site, are cur rently in use for tracking shorter-range missiles such as the Thor, Jupiter, and Snark.-News release.

Remote Control

Using a unique remote control system, a helicopter has brought an unmanned Marine landing vehicle (tracked) ashore. through dangerous surf conditions success

Atlas missile test tower

at the site of the former Camp Cooke, 168 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The base will train units for the Atlas and Titan intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the Thor intermediate-range missile, all of which are under development.

An 83 million-dollar contract for electronic equipment for the Atlas ballistic guidance system has been announced. Captive testing of the rocket engines of the Atlas is being carried out in two west coast bases. The Atlas is in pilot production.

It also has been reported that the South Atlantic missile range, the only range

Remote control system test

fully in operational tests. Designed to operate under extreme environmental conditions, the system can be installed easily in any tracked or wheeled vehicle. It uses electromechanical actuators to perform the control functions. Ordinary manual

operation of the vehicle is not hampered, and quick switchover to remote control is accomplished easily. This system, which functions either by radio or through an electric cable, will permit a vehicle to be used for television surveillance of remote, hazardous, or otherwise inaccessible areas. -News item.

Revolutionary STOL Plane

A new and different STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft is under development. The system utilizes two propulsive rotors driven by gas turbines, the rotors having small controllable flaps in their

(MR, Apr 1957, p 67), and another 13 million dollars worth of component parts have been placed on order. The Bomarc, which is larger than a Sabre Jet fighter, unofficially has been reported to have a speed of

Gas turbine STOL plane

trailing edges to provide control by changing the lift characteristics of the blades. This is expected to give the pilot full control of the airplane at speeds under 50 miles an hour. Above this speed, the flap system in the rotors automatically phases out and conventional aileron and rudder take over. Flaps on the wings provide additional lift during takeoffs, landings, and slow-speed flight. The aircraft's speed under this concept will range from zero to more than 300 miles an hour.-Official release.

'Bomarc' in Production

A seven million-dollar contract has been announced for the quantity production of the Bomarc interceptor guided missile

Bomarc in vertical takeoff

more than 21⁄2 times the speed of sound. The range of the rocket has not been officially released. It is known that the experimental missiles on which it was based had reached altitudes of 80,000 feet and the press has reported the Bomarc to have a range of between 200 and 300 miles. The Bomarc is propelled by a booster rocket and two Marquardt ramjet engines.-News item.

Atomic Carrier

The Navy has been authorized to proceed with the development of a 300 milliondollar, atomic-powered aircraft carrier (MR, Jan 1957, p 64). The carrier will be equipped with a radar system that incorporates four fixed antennas built into the sides of the island superstructure. The antennas will not rotate but will reflect pickups to an electronic device inside the control station. This will provide a continuing picture of ships, aircraft, clouds, and land formations far beyond the present radar limitations.-News item.

Improved Missile

Sparrow III, the third of a family of air-launched missiles designed for use by naval aircraft in fleet air defense, will RAT

Sparrow III in wing mounting

augment the earlier Sparrow I now operational with the fleet. Sparrow I is approximately 12 feet long and weighs 300 pounds. It attains a speed of more than 1,500 miles an hour within seconds after being launched. Sparrow II is an experimental missile not intended for operational use.Official release.

Aluminum Fire Truck

A highly mobile aluminum fire truck designed especially for the combating of fires involving nonconventional fuels can operate in temperatures as low as 65 degrees below zero and as high as 125 degrees above. It is equipped with a turret to combat large fires that are inaccessible by hose,

and carries a 1,000-gallon water tank, and 150 gallons of concentrated foam. A pump driven by the main engine provides for dis charge of fire extinguishing foam at rates up to 6,000 gallons a minute. Although it weighs 39,000 pounds and is 28 feet long. it can attain a speed of 60 miles an hour and has a turning radius of only 40 feet -News item.

Blood Container

A plastic bag has been developed to replace the glass bottles used in battlefield blood transfusions. The new container has the advantages of being unbreakable, disposable, easier to package, and safer to transport.-News item.

Language Training

A recently announced program urges every career officer in the United States Army to learn to speak at least one foreign language. Emphasis is being placed on Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, and Japanese. While the program is primarily aimed at Regular officers with more than three and less than 20 years' service, other than Regular officers with at least three and no more than 16 years' service also are encouraged to volunteer for language training. Interested officers may be sent to the Army Language School if quotas are available, or they can sign up for language training at post education centers.-News item.

Early Warning System

The DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line, northernmost of the three lines of the radar screen system of Continental Air Defense Command, is scheduled for final tests this summer. Construction of the DEW Line installations utilized approximately 396 tons of material. Canadian and United States expenditures for the project were 334 million dollars. Supplementing the landbound system is the North Atlantic Barrier Command which employs both

the Atlantic system employs three airborne Early Warning Squadrons flying the four-engine Superconstellation aircraft (MR, Apr 1957, p 63). Aircraft of these squadrons are in the air 24 hours a day, and are capable of detecting enemy aircraft at distances of over 100 miles.

The Barrier Command's surface operation utilizes two 8-destroyer picket squadrons equipped with high-performance electronic gear. The warning line also is planned for extension into the Pacific Ocean. It will include ships operating from Honolulu to Midway, and will tie in with operations in Alaska and the North Pacific.

New equipment destined for use in the early warning system include a revolutionary radar-carrying airship, and a reported underwater system to warn against the approach of enemy submarines. The nonrigid blimp, which contains about 1,500,000 cubic feet of helium and is one of the largest ever built, is under test. Its radar equipment will include a giant "bedspring" antenna revolving inside the gas bag of the airship. Four smaller radar warning lighter-than-air ships (MR, Jun

1957, p 67) are planned for use to supplement other detection devices in the North Atlantic this summer. The underwater detection system is said to be based on highly advanced sonar devices linked together in long chains on the ocean floor. The unconfirmed report stated that with this system ships can be detected as much as 100 miles away.-News item.

Antiaircraft Missile

The needle-nose Terrier, a beam-riding booster-aided antiaircraft rocket, is 27 feet long including its in-line booster, and weighs 3,360 pounds. It is standard equipment on the Navy's guided missile cruisers, the USS Boston and Canberra. The Terrier has a range of 20 miles and attains a speed of 1,330 miles an hour. Terrier launching systems will be installed in the new aircraft carriers Kitty Hawk and Constellation, and in a new class of guided missile