SAGE – Semi Automatic Ground Environment – Part 1/2
*** THIS FILM WAS MADE MY THE US GOVERNMENT AND IS PUBLIC DOMAIN *** SAGE, the Semi Automatic Ground Environment, was an automated control system used by NORAD for collecting, tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft from the late 1950s into the 1980s. In later versions, the system could automatically direct aircraft to an interception by sending commands directly to the aircraft’s autopilot. By the time it was fully operational the Soviet bomber threat had been replaced by the Soviet missile threat, for which SAGE was entirely inadequate. Nevertheless, SAGE was tremendously important; it led to huge advances in online systems and interactive computing, real-time computing, and data communications using modems. It is generally considered to be one of the most advanced and successful large computer systems ever developed. ibm’s role in SAGE (the design and manufacture of the AN/FSQ-7 computer, a vacuum tube computer with ferrite core memory based on the never-built Whirlwind II) was an important factor leading to ibm’s domination of the computer industry. Background Prior to the introduction of SAGE, the task of intercepting bombers was becoming increasingly difficult. This was the latest shift in a balance of power that had been see-sawing since the 1930s. During the leadup to World War II it was widely believed that the bomber was essentially immune, at least in any practical sense. As speeds approached 200 mph the time between seeing the bomber and it reaching … Read more on SAGE — Semi Automatic Ground Environment — Part 1/2…