Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

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ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD WAR II the Germans struck Asch, one Spitfire squadron and one Thunderbolt squadron were airborne, and a dozen P-51s of the 352d Fighter Group were taking off. The latter’s commander, Col John Meyer, claimed one FW 190 before he raised his landing gear. In the ensuing melee, American pilots claimed 32 kills; British pilots, one. In all, the Allied pilots and gunners at Asch claimed 35 to 41 German aircraft out of 50 attackers. The Allies lost no P-51s and only one P-47 in the air; they lost seven Spitfires and several C-47s on the ground. The Germans admitted losing 27 aircraft in the attack. 48 A few months later, US flak gunners scored another impressive victory. After American forces unexpectedly captured the railway bridge across the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany, on 7 March 1945, German forces made considerable and desperate efforts to destroy it. By 14 March, the American antiaircraft gunners massed 64 90 mm, 216 40 mm, and 24 37 mm guns as well as 228 quad and 140 single .50-caliber machine guns in their defensive effort (fig. 14). They claimed 142 German aircraft destroyed of 442 attacking. More important, German aircraft did not damage the bridge. 49 The impact of AAA can be seen in two statistical snapshots. During the European campaign, American forces of the 12th Army Group (First, Third, and Ninth US Armies) recorded 14,776 sorties by the German air force. US gunners claimed the destruction of 2,070 Luftwaffe aircraft. The GAF recorded 29,953 aircraft lost to enemy action or missing in the entire war. Of the 14,938 downed over Germany, the Germans credited AAA with the destruction of 2,598 aircraft. 50 German Flak Of all combatants in World War II, the Germans had the most experience with antiaircraft defense. They had come a long way from the Versailles peace treaty that essentially banned German antiaircraft weapons. Although the Germans evaded the provisions of the treaty to a degree, that agreement clearly inhibited them from building any real military force until Hitler came to power in 1933. In April 1934, the Germans assigned the antiaircraft arm to the Luftwaffe. At first, they considered AAA as 24
ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD WAR II Figure 14. US quad .50 gun. The American quad .50 was an effective weapon against both air and ground targets. (Adapted from http://www. strand.com/quad50/halftrk.jpg.) the primary defense of the homeland from enemy aircraft. The Germans expanded the role of flak as they assessed the lessons of the Spanish Civil War, where AAA also served most notably as an infantry support weapon. Based on that war, the Germans doubled the number of their flak units. When World War II began, the Germans had 2,600 heavy and 6,700 light flak guns, the largest air defense system in the world (fig. 15). 51 25
Page 2 and 3: Report Documentation Page Form Appr
Page 4 and 5: Air University Library Cataloging D
Page 6 and 7: Contents Chapter Page DISCLAIMER .
Page 8 and 9: CONTENTS Chapter Page 7 BALLISTIC M
Page 10 and 11: CONTENTS Figure Page 30 George Pred
Page 12 and 13: CONTENTS Figure Page 70 Blowpipe .
Page 14 and 15: Foreword Dr. Kenneth Werrell’s hi
Page 16 and 17: About the Author Dr. Kenneth P. Wer
Page 18 and 19: PREFACE excluded from the original
Page 20 and 21: PREFACE always been a factor in air
Page 22 and 23: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Artillery Institute
Page 24 and 25: ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD
Page 34 and 35: Figure 7. British 40 mm light antia
Page 92 and 93: FROM GUNS TO MISSILES American air
Page 94 and 95: FROM GUNS TO MISSILES company deliv
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES (discussed la
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES flak rockets
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES 1953, the rat
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES to 1,285 in J
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Figure 40. Ar
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES cember 1958,
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Figure 42. Nike Hercules. The Nike
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Airmen test-f
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Bomarc failed
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Despite knowl
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Figure 47. Ha
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Army decided
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES The third fam
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES with both les
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES that fired ov
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES Figure 53. Br
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES The two-decad
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES A. H. Peterso
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FROM GUNS TO MISSILES “SAMs Spur
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Chapter 3 Airmen versus Guerrillas:
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS the next y
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS war with t
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS Figure 56.
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS firings fr
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS and Navy c
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS American A
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS but modifi
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS In all, du
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS least an e
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS War Vietna
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS D.C.: Depa
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AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS 97, 121; a
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Chapter 4 Operations between Vietna
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OPERATIONS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND THE
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Chapter 5 Ballistic Missile Defense
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE Army cons
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE Figure 80
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Figure 81. Spartan launch. The Spar
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE a limited
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE these wer
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE ment to c
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE developin
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE Radar Int
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE when the
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE casualtie
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE fluential
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE missiles
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE psycholog
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE 6. Army O
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE April 196
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE 54. Reiss
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE 74. GWAPS
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Chapter 6 Ground-Based Air Defense
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GROUND-BASED AIR DEFENSE SINCE 1990
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Chapter 7 Ballistic Missile Defense
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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE IN THE 19
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Figure 96. Arrow launch.The Arrow i
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Chapter 8 Summary, Trends, and Conc
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SUMMARY, TRENDS, AND CONCLUSIONS ev
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SUMMARY, TRENDS, AND CONCLUSIONS te
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SUMMARY, TRENDS, AND CONCLUSIONS EC
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Index A-1, 128, 227-28, 232 A-4, 12
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INDEX Convair, 98 Crotale, 158 D-da
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INDEX Gulf of Tonkin incident, 115
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INDEX Remagen, 24, 57, 270 RF-4C, 1
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INDEX SAM, 34, 74, 81-82, 84, 87, 9
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Archie to SAM A Short Operational H
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