fm 44-100 us army air and missile defense operations

FM 44-100
C-8
C-31. TERS will transition into the Tactical Event System (TES) in the near
future. TES will use the same communications architecture currently used by
TERS, but will provide more timely and more reliable missile launch
warning. TES warning messages will originate at different ground segments
which each contribute different but complementary detection and processing
capabilities. The components of TES are the Attack and Launch Early
Reporting to Theater (ALERT) system, the Tactical Detection and Reporting
(TACDAR) system, and the Joint Tactical Ground Station (JTAGS).
C-32. JTAGS is a satellite receiver that allows direct downlinks of missile
and other warning data into the theater. Data is processed and disseminated
in theater via the TRAP and TIBS networks. JTAGS will also disseminate
voice warning to forces in the theater. Within 2 minutes of missile launch,
tactical parameters, to include estimated impact area, are available to
support tactical missile defense operations. USSPACECOM executes its
control of JTAGS through the Army Space Command (ARSPACE).
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
C-33. The Army has been actively involved in space operations since Dr.
Wernher von Braun and other German scientists joined the Army's program
to develop militarily useful missiles and rockets in 1945. The efforts of Army
scientists working at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and at
Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama resulted
in the birth of the United States space program. In 1958, the Army space
program became the nucleus of the newly created National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), which assumed responsibility for all civilian
space operations. That same year, NASA launched the nation's first satellite
into orbit using an Army Redstone rocket. The Redstone was also used to
launch a Mercury capsule carrying Commander Alan B. Shepard into space
in 1961, marking the beginning of the nation's manned space flight program.
C-34. As NASA and the newly created United States Air Force assumed
greater responsibility for civilian and military space operations, the Army's
role in space declined proportionately. The Army's space interests were
limited to development of air and strategic ballistic missile defense
capabilities, and to exploitation of national space capabilities for support of
tactical operations.
C-35. In 1973, the Army Space Program Office (ASPO) was established to
improve support by national capabilities to tactical commanders. The Joint
Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities Program has fielded a number
of systems for use by Army commanders. The Strategic Defense Command
(SDC) has led Army efforts to develop defenses against both strategic and
tactical ballistic missiles.
C-36. In 1985, DOD established the United States Space Command
(USSPACECOM) to exercise combatant command over the service's space
operations. The Commander in Chief, USSPACECOM, provides space
support to other theater commanders as a supporting CINC. The Army's
Space and Strategic Defense Command (SSDC) consists of ARSPACE and
SDC and is the Army component of USSPACECOM. ARSPACE is the Army