REPORT FROM THE FIELD

Year Published: 1983

Description: This short promo film is probably an excerpt from a 1983 annual corporate shareholder report update for Norden Systems, a major American defense contractor and division of United Technologies Corporation (best known historically for creating the World War II Norden bombsight). It highlights the company's major technological deployments, military combat successes, and business contract wins during 1983—a peak era of the Cold War and U.S. military expansion under the Reagan administration. 0:22 Norden's Battery Computer System saw combat deployment during the 1983 Multinational Force peacekeeping mission in Lebanon to guide counter-fire artillery for US Marines. During the Cold War, defense contractor Norden Systems, famous for inventing the World War II Norden bombsight, transitioned into a major developer of computerized fire control systems and military avionics for United Technologies Corporation. 0:29 Delivery of the Multiple Launch Rocket System fire control units expanded significantly, shipping 92 units to bring total field deployments to 125 systems across global US and allied postings. 0:44 Norden's Combat Ship Radar Integration System entered naval operational service, receiving accolades for its deployment during the 1983 Lebanon crisis. 0:51 The Canadian Navy adopted Norden's shipboard gunfire control system for its Destroyer Life Extension program to modernize anti-surface and anti-air naval defense capabilities. 1:00 Expansion of Norden's tactical computer architecture, including the PDP-11M and Mil-VAX militarized computer series, reached over 100 military applications, including full software compatibility with the Department of Defense's new Ada programming language. 1:15 Norden provided avionics and hardware support across four NASA Space Shuttle missions, securing solid rocket booster contracts through flight 16. 1:25 Norden's propulsion systems division secured $1.5 billion in potential defense contracts for solid rocket motor development on the U.S. Navy's Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile and the U.S. Air Force's Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile programs during the Reagan administration's strategic defense build-up. 1:40 Successful field demonstrations of Pave Mover, a joint Air Force and DARPA standoff radar target acquisition project, proved aircraft could direct precision-guided munitions from safe distances, establishing the foundational radar and battle management technology for the future E-8 Joint STARS platform. 1:47 Norden-upgraded radar systems aboard U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers took top honors at the Strategic Air Command simulated bombing competition at Barksdale Air Force Base.

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfBDBGOfEgM

Metadata Source:YouTube