Air Force Science and Technology Contributions to the Nation
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The Limitless Sky Air Force Science and Technology Contributions to the Nation Edited by: Alexander H. Levis Chief Scientist, USAF with the assistance of Colonel John C. Bedford, USAF, Ret. Captain Sandra Davis Air Force History and Museums Program United States Air Force Washington, D.C. 2004 “…problems never have a final or universal answer, and only constant inquisitive attitude towards science and a ceaseless and swift adaptation to new development can maintain the security of this nation through… air supremacy” Dr. Theodore onv Kármán to General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold 15 December 1945 To the Air Force scientists and engineers, military and civilian, for keeping true to von Kármán’s vision. Acknowledgement Neither the Symposium nor this book would have been possible without the support of a number of organizations. The Air Force Association provided a venue for the Symposium and made it a part of its Fall ’03 convention in Washington, D.C. The Air Force Legislative Liaison and the Public Affairs Offices provided administrative support and publicity, while the Centennial of Flight Office included this activity in the centennial program. The organizing committee was chaired by Col. John B. Bedford, AF/ST, and included Alexander G. Levis and Nancy C. Stenger from AF/ST, Bill Heimdahl from AF/HO, Col. Tom Schubert from AF/LL, Maj. Michelle Ryan, AF/CVAH, and Napoleon Byars from AFA. The Program Committee had the responsibility of selecting the topics and working with the multiple authors to produce the papers and the presentations. The committee was chaired by Alexander H. Levis, AF/ST, and included Barbara A. Wilson, AFRL/CT, Col. Donald R. Erbschloe, AFOSR/CD, George W. Bradley III, AFSC/HO, Ruth P. Liebowitz, ESC/HO, and Maj. John Beaulieu, AF/HO. Thanks are also due to several individuals who introduced the papers at the Symposium: LtGen Tom Hobbins, AF/XI, Maj Gen Don Lamberson (Ret.), Barbara Wittig, Jacob Neufeld, and Richard Wolfe, of AF/HO for editorial assistance and Susan Linders, of Air Force Media Services for design and layout. Content Dedication iii Acknowledgment iv The Limitless Sky 1 Dr. Alexander H. Levis Precision Timing, Location, Navigation: GPS and the Precision Revolution 23 Michael I. Yarymovych, Bradford W. Parkinson, George W. Bradley III, Brigadier General Daniel J. Darnell, USAF, Ivan A. Getting Tightening the Circle: Scientific Research and the Evolution and Revolution of Precision Guided Munitions 21 Lieutenant General Daniel P. Leaf, USAF, Robert I. Sierakowski, Robert P. White Enlisting the Spectrum for Air Force Advantage: Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) 47 Ruth P. Liebowitz, Edward A. Watson, Major General Stephen G. Wood, USAF From the Air: Taking Radar to New Heights 65 Tom W. Thompson, Ruth P. Liebowitz, Jon S. Jones, Robert J. Mailloux, Lieutenant General Bruce K. Brown, USAF, Ret., Major General Joseph P. Stein, USAF Pilots in Extreme Environments: Enforcing U.S. Foreign Policy from the Edge of Space 83 Major General Robert F. Behler, USAF, Ret, Russell R. Burton, George C. Mohr, William J. Sears, Billy E. Welch Exploiting the High Ground: The U.S. Air Force and the Space Environment 109 Barron K. Oder, William F. Denig, Major William B. Cade III, USAF Space Flight: Long-Range Missiles, Rocket Planes, and Lifting Bodies 145 Rick W. Sturdevant, John H. Darrah, Lieutenant General Forrest McCartney, USAF, Ret. Military Satellite Communications: From Concept to Reality 171 Harry L. Van Trees, Lieutenant General Harry D. Raduege, USAF, Rick W. Sturdevant, Ronald E. Thompson Directed Energy: The Wave of the Future 207 Robert W. Duffner, Robert R. Butts, J. Douglas Beason, General Ronald R. Fogleman, USAF, Ret. Notes and References 233 Acronyms 254 Biographical Sketches of Authors 258 Introduction The Limitless Sky The old dream of mankind to fly and reach the sky—as exemplified by Daedalus and Icarus of ancient Greek lore—became a reality on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and ushered in a period of unprecedented technological development. From Orville Wright’s short flight a few feet off the ground, to the commercial airliners flying at 37,000 feet, the limits of the sky have receded farther and farther away. In the second half of the twentieth century, powered flight extended to satellites orbiting the earth, to landings on the moon, and probes that explore our planetary system. The Hubble space telescope has been producing breathtaking pictures of distant galaxies not observable from terrestrial telescopes. The sky has become limitless. The Air Force, from its very beginnings as the Army Air Corps, has contributed significantly to all aspects of powered flight that have not only enhanced the defense capabilities of the United States, but also produced a broad spectrum of non-military applications that have improved the quality of life throughout the world. Consequently, to celebrate the centennial of flight, a one-day symposium was held on September 17, 2003, in which the stories of some of the contributions, and of the people who made them, were told. The objective of the symposium was to present technological developments that have produced new capabilities or opened new ways for achieving objectives. Each paper is the result of a collaborative effort of historians, who have placed the contribution in its historical perspective; technologists, who have described the essence of the scientific or technological contribution; and Air Force senior officers, who have shared their personal experiences on how that technological development affected operations or missions. The nine papers included in this volume were selected because of their diversity and because they illustrate clearly several key themes. First, it takes a long time from the onset of a new idea to the production of a useful product that enhances operations, something on the order of twenty years. One has to believe in the idea and stay the course, in the face of adversity, to obtain results. Consistent, steady funding is a must. Second, research results rarely lead to what was envisioned in the beginning as a relevant application. Indeed, research in atomic clocks enabled the Global Positioning System (GPS), but that was not the motivation for the research. Similarly, early research on lasers hardly anticipated the proliferation of commercial products or at-home entertainment via DVDs. Third, it usually takes a confluence of several disparate developments to produce a new capability. A vibrant, interacting scientific and engineering community is essential to achieve the breakthroughs that will continue to provide the nation with air supremacy. 1 The Limitless Sky The first paper tells the story of GPS. It is not only a story of scientific and technical achievement, but also one of suspense that illustrates the difficulties of introducing revolutionary technologies. The failures and successes in that program attest to the vision and perseverance of the people who made it happen. The GPS finally solved the problem that had challenged seafarers since antiquity. It has also enabled a multitude of civilian and military applications. The second paper looks at a development that has revolutionized the employment of air power. The use of laser research and the GPS has enabled ever-increasing precision strikes at ever-increasing distances. From tens of bombers dropping hundreds of bombs to hit a single target in World War II, now a single aircraft can strike several targets. Precision also raises expectations for minimizing collateral damage and puts high priority on detecting targets, identifying them correctly, and tracking them. Advances in electro-optical/infrared imaging, in radar, and in lasers have become the triad for remote sensing, where the objective has been to “overcome the problems of great distances, weather, and darkness,” articulated by von Kármán. The third paper focuses on infrared cameras from their first beginnings to their employment in unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator and Global Hawk. The fourth paper looks at airborne radar, whether in AWACS or in Joint STARS, two systems that have revolutionized the conduct of air-to-air and air-to-ground operations. Soon after the first powered flight in 1903, the effects of the high altitude environment on the performance of pilots became a concern. Research on the effects of hypoxia went back to balloonists in the late nineteenth century. With the creation in 1918 of the Air Service Medical Research Laboratory, it became possible to establish the scientific foundation for the development of a wide variety of equipment, from oxygen masks to the pressure suits of today, that would enable air crews to fly higher and for longer periods of time. The fifth paper traces that history and the accomplishments of such pioneers as Armstrong, Stapp, and Kittinger. The paper also includes the story of a particular mission of the SR–71, an aircraft that flew at 80,000 feet, at the edge of space, at three times the speed of sound—an extreme environment indeed. The sixth paper, not presented at the symposium, describes the Air Force research in weather, not only the effort to understand terrestrial weather, but also space weather. The launching of U.S. satellites, which started in 1958, led to the discovery of the Van Allen belts. This was a major scientific discovery that began the mapping of the space environment, a necessary condition for sending unmanned and manned spacecraft to space. To reach space, whether for scientific, military, or commercial purposes, a launch capability was needed. In the early years of the space age, this capability was provided by the Air Force’s long-range ballistic missiles—Atlas, Titan, and Thor. The seventh paper records 2 Introduction the history and the systems that have allowed the U.S. to launch satellites that have provided extraordinary sensing capabilities and global communications.