Backup Interceptor Control (BUIC, ) was the

Electronic Systems Division The Electronic Systems Center was a product center of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Its mission was to develop and acquire Command and Control (Military), command and control, communica ...

416M System to backup the

SAGE Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

416L System in the United States and Canada. BUIC deployed Cold War

command, control, and coordination system A command, control, and coordination system (CCCS) was a Cold War computer system for United States command posts (e.g., Army Air Defense Command Posts) to use a single location to coordinate multiple units' ground-controlled interception (e.g., USA ...

s to

SAGE radar stations The SAGE radar stations of Air Defense Command (Aerospace Defense Command after 1968) were the military installations operated by USAF squadrons using the 1st automated air defense environment (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) and networked by t ...

to create dispersed NORAD Control Centers. __TOC__

Background

Prior to the SAGE Direction Centers becoming operational, the USAF deployed data link systems at NORAD Control Centers with ground computers for controlling manned interceptors. After SAGE

IBM AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central The AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central, referred to as the Q7 for short, was a computerized command and control system for Cold War ground-controlled interception used in the USAF Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense network. The ...

s became operational and the

Super Combat Center A Super Combat Center (SCC) was a planned Cold War command and control facility for ten NORAD regions/Air Divisions in Canada and the United States. For installation in nuclear bunkers, the command posts were to replace the last of the planned Ai ...

s with improved (digital) computers were cancelled, a backup to SAGE was planned in the event the above-ground SAGE

Air Defense Direction Center An Air Defense Direction Center (ADDC) was a type of United States command post for assessing Cold War radar tracks, assigning height requests to available height-finder radars, and for "Weapons Direction": coordinating command guidance of aircra ...

failed.

General Electric AN/GPA-37 Course Directing Group

BUIC began with deployment of General Electric AN/GPA-37 Course Directing Groups to several Long Range Radar stations. Units designated included the "U.S. Air Force 858th Air Defense Group (BUIC) hich becamea permanent operating facility" at

Naval Air Station Fallon Naval Air Station Fallon or NAS Fallon is the United States Navy's premier air-to-air and air-to-ground training facility. It is located southeast of the city of Fallon, east of Reno in western Nevada. Since 1996, it has been home to the U.S. Na ...

in Nevada.

BUIC II

BUIC II was used to command and control sites using the

Burroughs AN/GSA-51 Radar Course Directing Group The Burroughs AN/GSA-51 Radar Course Directing Group was a United States Air Force air defense command, control, and coordination system, part of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system. It was intended to replace vacuum tube IBM AN/FSQ-7 Comba ...

. North Truro AFS became the first ADC installation configured for BUIC II.

BUIC III

The AN/GYK-19 (initially AN/GSA-51A) was an upgraded version of the BUIC II system designated AN/GSA-51A and required a larger building than the AN/GSA-51. The first BUIC III site was

Fort Fisher AFS Fort Fisher Air Force Station was a United States Air Force installation located on the Atlantic coast southwest of Kure Beach, North Carolina. Its primary mission was as a radar complex. It was closed on 30 June 1988 by the Air Force, and tu ...

, and Air Defense Command's was first installed at

Fort Fisher Air Force Station Fort Fisher Air Force Station was a United States Air Force installation located on the Atlantic coast southwest of Kure Beach, North Carolina. Its primary mission was as a radar complex. It was closed on 30 June 1988 by the Air Force, and tu ...

, North Carolina. Although more advanced systems were contemplated, the final design of the BUIC III system was an upgraded version of the BUIC II with around twice the performance. North Turro AFS BUIC III c

Closure and upgrade

In 1972 the USAF decided to shut down most of the BUIC sites; most of the sites mothballed by 1974, except for the BUIC III site at Tyndall Air Force Base. In Canada the BUIC site at Senneterre was shut down, but St Margarets remained open. The remaining sites were closed between 1983-1984 when SAGE was replaced by the Joint Surveillance System. The AN/FYQ-47 Common Digitizer for the Joint Surveillance System, and the Radar Video Data Processor (RVDP) was a combined system for the Air Force and

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

(FAA), it replaced the SAGE

Burroughs AN/FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitting Set The Burroughs AN/FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitting Set (CDTS) was a Cold War military computer system at SAGE radar stations for displaying aircraft tracks and converting them for digital transmission to IBM AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Centrals at ...

References

External links

AN/GSA-51 Back Up Interceptor Control System (BUIC)
at Federation of American Scientists
Burroughs BUIC - AN/GSA-51 SAGE Backup
a
Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communications and Computation
{{USAF system codes Computer networks Cold War military equipment of the United States Lists of Cold War sites North American Aerospace Defense Command