[BALLISTIC MISSILE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM]

[Music] [Music] this is the threat this is our answer [Music] the fact that long range missiles can strike from foreign launching sites against any part of the United States and Canada has made it essential that we develop a warning system so that we can alert our striking forces an aggressor nation's best weapon is a sneak attack an attack that would catch us by surprise and weaken our ability to retaliate our defense is based on the fact that we will not initiate the first blow but have the retaliatory forces to make our counterblow extremely damaging to the [Music] enemy in our defense planning it became the responsibility of the Air Force to provide the necessary warning system A system that would provide us with a warning of ICBM attack within the Air Force a special project office was established to carry out the program the new system is called beuse ballistic missile early warning system beuse consists of three radar sites located at Clear Alaska Tuli Greenland and Yorkshire England these sites operate in conjunction with the central warning and display facility at North American air defense headquarters at Colorado Springs as missiles are launched they are detected by The beuse Radars their courses are computed at the sites and this information is transmitted instantaneously to the control center at Colorado Springs if the launch is a definite threat to the United States or Canada our strategic commanders will take the necessary action before the first enemy missile has reached our soil Our Miss and bombers will launch their retaliatory strike at the enemy with full force the Muse was designed to make a surprise attack Impossible and thus is one of our strongest deterrent forces to carry out the beuse program the Air Force selected the radio Corporation of America as Prime system contractor within RCA the task was assigned to the major defense systems activity of the missile and surface radar division at mortown New Jersey the urgent need for buuse meant tight production and construction schedules to meet these schedules RCA and the Air Force selected Industries experienced in areas that could be immediately applied to the program major subcontractors in the buuse industrial team include the general electric company in Syracuse New York the Goodyear aircraft Corporation in akan Ohio and Sylvania electronic products in NM Massachusetts under separate Prime contract to the Air Force is the Western Electric Company assigned the responsibility of producing the communication system linking the radar sites and the control center at Colorado Springs the United States Army Corps of Engineers was assigned the task of Building Construction and imp placement of heavy equipment at the northern sites each major subcontractor in turn selected other Industries with which to work suppliers of smaller parts were selected until finally a vast industrial team was gathered together in a well organized effort to produce beuse this team numbers more than 2,900 large and small businesses faced with with a rigid schedule in a Race Against Time this industrial team began immediately to put all necessary effort into this program new facilities were constructed skilled people were called upon Engineers construction experts data analysts technicians machinists and management to plan direct and integrate the activities construction of the gigantic equipment required for beuse began in all of the industrial plants huge scanners for The Radars measuring in feet and accurate 2 thousands of an inch were designed and fabricated radar components weighing tons were machined to final Dimensions with accuracies and balances of a fine watch the Power trans transmitters for beuse fill entire rooms and are the most powerful radar transmitters ever [Music] built the computers for beuse the giant electronic brains which compute in microsc the trajectory and areas of impact of the icbms are among the fastest and most accurate in the world today these are the components of beuse giant and precise fast and accurate all designed and in production in a Race Against [Music] Time but the need for these components was at the northern radar sites finished parts were transported from the factory by Rail and by truck the rigid schedule was maintained both day and night so that materials would arrive at the ports on time at all intransit points of cargo Bound for the northern sites RCA and the Navy assigned Transportation experts to root and inventory these vital shipments since the Open Water season for shipping to the SES was short because of the freezing Arctic Waters maintaining schedules all along the line was [Music] essential at the northern radar sites incoming billing materials were immediately readed for constructing the technical facilities here far inside the Arctic Circle the men were faced with the real task of theuse the initial work was at the site in Tuli Greenland in this land a part of Denmark temperatures dropped to 60 below and winds reach 140 M an hour the heavy snows which blow from The Polar Ice Gap and cover this land and most of the year were shoved aside for the work that had to continue using heavy equipment work was slow and difficult in soil that never thought and had never before been worked new construction techniques were devised and put into action so that progress would be steady gradually the buildings took shape and the problems of Arctic construction were overcome during the winter months when the Seas were frozen the military Air transport service was called upon to airlift supplies that would keep B on schedule some of the most vital structures of theuse are the giant detection Radars the reflectors are larger than a football field and are built to withstand Winds of 185 mph they are constructed of special steel designed for the Arctic [Music] climate after the main framework was completed the reflecting screening was attached this screening will receive the radar Reflections from any missiles which might pass within the radar range [Music] the reflectors must be positioned with extreme care to permit the trajectory and impact areas of enemy missiles to be determined accurately to prevent shifts in positions with climate changes they were tightened and backfilled other structures at the radar sites include the transmitter buildings which house the giant power transmitters for the Muse radars [Music] the computer buildings which house the intricate beuse Computing equipment and the scanner buildings in which the powerful radar beams are generated all parts of beus Radars computers Communications are kept constantly in operating condition by the use of a unique checkout and automatic monitoring system developed by RCA this system provides a continual check on bimu so that high reliability is attained in order to maintain the extensive beuse side operations complete support facilities are required these include an electronic Maintenance Shop an electrical power distribution building a heated garage and terminal and a dining Hall and emergency dormatory normal living quarters and facilities for Greenland site Personnel are located at Tuli Airbase some 10 mi from The Radar Site here constructed for the buuse project are dormitories where the site Personnel can enjoy comfortable living quarters a dining hall where real homelike food is served and an administration building where the business of directing the buuse activities is carried [Applause] out these Radars and buildings are typical of the site at Greenland and the one in Alaska the third Buu site at filing dalees Moore in Yorkshire England uses another type radar the dual-purpose tracker these Radars developed by RCA are housed in specially designed radomes at top the transmitter buildings selected for the British site because of its unique capability the tracking radar can both detect and track oncoming missiles upon acquisition of a hostile missile a designated tracking radar locks on and automatically tracks the flying object gathering information on its trajectory and impact area while the industrial team under RCA and the United States Army Corps of Engineers were proceeding with site and Stateside construction Western Electric was completing the rearward communications microwave and tropospheric Scatter systems were constructed and new submarine cables were laid in the icy waters of the Arctic the entire system was then integrated into commercial routes to provide a reliable network of communications [Music] in the meantime the Air Force and RCA were taking the necessary steps to integrate the beuse warning system into present North American Air Defense command facilities at Colorado Springs new warning and Status displays were designed and made ready so that beuse could become an active part of the air defense structure of the Free World this is beuse an electronic defense system to warn of enemy attack from the sky this tremendous progress is a tribute to the military and Industrial capability of our country but although beuse shows the ability of Industry to answer the military needs of the Free World more than that beuse is the effort of people Free People thousands of skilled men and women deter deted to protect their way of life working in an allout effort to provide us with a means to preserve the Peace So that our families and children can carry on their daily activities without fear of surprise [Music] attack and this is the product of their efforts The Muse guarding the Free World against the threat of enemy attack