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Manual Radar Operations

Manual Radar Operations

The manual operations center consists of  several different types of sites. These consist of  the Norad Control Center (NCC), Norad Ground Control Intercept (NGCI) Site and the Norad Surveillance Station (NSS).

It is suggested that you visit the sites in the listed order which is from the lowest to highest echelon:

Note: If the visitor is familiar with Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) systems have a ball moving around but if this is new to you lowest to highest level is the best way to understand the functions.

All of these sites had radar scopes, communications equipment and large plexiglass boards used to display information. In the sections describing each echelon of the system, the boards available will be described.

In the above list the sites were listed from the highest level of command to the lowest. In other words the NSS reported to the NGCI, the NGCI to the NCC and the NCC to the SAGE Region or in the case of Alaska directly to the Alaskan Norad Region (ANR).

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The Norad Surveillance  Station (NSS)

The NSS had no control or identification function. Its only function or purpose was air surveillance and early warning. The NSS reported to and was responsible to the NGCI. It consisted of the surveillance scope, height scope, teller, recorder and crew chief positions. In some cases the teller and recorder positions were combined.

The Scope Operator was responsible for the detection of all aircraft within the sites Area of Responsibility (AOR). When a track was detected the bearing and range was called into the plotter who was behind the vertical plotting board as an Initial Plot (IP). The IP had to be updated or scrubbed in 2 minutes. If the IP turned out to be weather, ground clutter or Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) i.e. jamming it is scrubbed. After 2 minutes the IP is updated. It is now an established track with the classification of Pending. Pending, Unknown, Hostile, Faker and Special tracks were updated every 2 minutes. Interceptors and friendly tracks were updated every five minutes.

The vertical plotting board consisted of a map of the radar coverage area which included the land mass, the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), airbases, other radar sites, and other points of tactical interest. Because the radar was orientated to magnetic north and the circular rotation of the sail (antenna) a polar grid was painted in white on the board. This allowed the plotter to interpret the position called by the scope operator and allow supervisors determine the position from the site. A system of coordinates known as GEOREF was applied to the board also. GEOREF was adapted from the standard latitude and longitude coordinate system and used to forward and lateral tell the tracks.

The Plotter had to be able to write backwards because he stood behind the vertical plotting board. If he wrote in the normal manner it would be backwards to those in front of the board. He updated the tracks as called in by the the scope operator. He also plotted the location of ECM, Nuclear Detonations (NUDET), CHEMREP (Chemical Attacks) and BIOREP (attacks with Biological Agents).

The Teller had the responsibility of telling the location of plotted information on the plotting board to adjacent sites when exchanging responsibility for tracking the track or passing threat information such as NUDETS. He also forward told the tracks and threat warnings to the NGCI and NCC. The NGCI and NCC were on the same communications lines because the NGCI did not have ann identification function.

The height finder operator slewed the height finder radar antenna to the proper azimuth and reported height and flight size information to the plotter.

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Back to Echelon

The Norad Ground Control Intercept Site (NGCI)

The NGCI was the lowest level of command with a control function. It had all of the positions in the NSS. The positions will not be discussed again as the function is the same at all echelon. In addition to the positions in the NSS, the NGCI had the addition of the TMD Board (Tactical Mission Data), Weapons Status and the Weather Board. The NGCI also had a Weapons Section as well as addition Surveillance Personnel to man the added positions.

The Weather Board displayed the current weather and forecast at all air bases used by the weapons section. It also had the Winds Aloft from 5,000 feet to 90,000 in 5000 foot intervals. The Winds Aloft displayed the wind direction, speed and the temperature at each altitude.

The TMD Board displayed the Tactical information on each track. This position was only used when there were priority tracks such as Unknown, Hostile, Faker or Special tracks in the system. It displayed the track number, flight size, height and tactical action taken. Tactical action was AD (Action Deferred), NS (No scramble and reason such as WX (weather)) Weapons Assigned (the fighter by callsign such as MG01 or the ADA (Army Air Defense Artillery better known as NIKE) commitment. It also had the time of weapon assignment  and the results of the weapons commitment such as MA (Mission Accomplished), MI (Missed Intercept), number of Kills or Splash (all objects destroyed). The TMD information was told forward by the Weapons Assignment Tech (WAT).

The Senior Director (SD) was assisted by the Senior Director Technician (SDT). The SD was the senior officer at the NGCI and was responsible for the overall air surveillance picture and weapons assignment. He coordinated with the NCC SD with the weapons function. The SD ordered all scrambles of interceptors. The SDT assisted the SD and maintained the Control Log which was a record of all weapons actions taken at the NGCI.

The WAO (Weapons Assignment Officer) was assisted by the WAT (Weapons Assignment Technician) for the overall flight safety at the NGCI and assigned interceptors on CAP (Combat Air Patrol) to tracks. The scramble authority was sometimes delegated to the WAO. He also assigned CAP orbits to the interceptors.

The Weapons Controller (WC) assisted by the Weapons Control Technician (WCT) controlled the interceptor/s from handoff by FAA or other control facility until RTB (return to base) was ordered. The WC selected the proper tactic for the engagement and controlled the interceptor to the intercept point. This was accomplished using voice commands. He ordered command headings and altitude and provided target information, flight safety and threat warning information to the aircrew. The WCT maintained the Intercept Log, computed the intercept geometry, prepared the handy aid, assisted the WC with Stranger Calls (other aircraft not involved in the intercept) and coordinated handoff to and from FAA or other control facility.

Other positions added at the NGCI was the Air Surveillance Officer (ASO) and his assistant the Air Surveillance Supervisor (ASS). They provided additional supervision to the Air Surveillance Section. The AJO (Anti-Jamming Operator) was later added to all echelons having radar data to provided ECCM (Electronic Counter Counter Measures). This position's duty was to provide the best possible radar picture to the system.

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The Norad Control Center (NCC)

Again the positions common to the NSS and NGCI will not be discussed. There were 2 positions added at the NCC. These were the Battle Commander and the Identification Section.

The Battle Commander coordinated with the SDs at the NGCIs and the Supervisors at the NSS. He also coordinated the efforts of the region with the Battle Staff at the SAGE region. This was accomplished with a communications circuit known as the Battle Loop. This connected the entire battle staff at all locations together. The Battle Commander had overall responsibility for the mission in his AOR.

The Identification Section had the responsibility of identification of all air traffic in the AOR. They received flight plans from AMIS (Air Movement Information Service). This was part of FAA and the MOT (Ministry of Transportation in Canada). They also received information from friendly military units through the COMM Center which had secure teletype circuits.

The flight plans were plotted on a table in the Identification Section. The location of tracks were compared with pending and unknown tracks on the vertical plotting board. If the track fell within a block with the dimensions of 10 nautical miles either side of the projected track plus or minus 10 minutes of the projected position on the flight plan the track was considered to be correlated with the flight plan if over land. If over water the time was increased to 20 minutes and the distance 20 nautical miles. Other identification methods were IFF (Identification Friend to Friend) and SIF (Selective Identification Features). These were transponder codes squawked by the aircraft. Information on IFF/SIF may be found at the North American Air Defense Online Radar Museum and other linked sites found at that location.

View  Chain of Command Graphic.

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