Backup Interceptor Control (BUIC,/ˈbjuːɪk/[citation needed]) was theElectronic Systems Division 416M System to backup theSAGE 416L System in the United States and Canada. BUIC deployedCold Warcommand, control, and coordination systems toSAGE radar stations to create dispersedNORAD Control Centers.
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Prior to the SAGE Direction Centers becoming operational, the USAF deployeddata link systems atNORAD Control Centers with ground computers for controlling crewed interceptors. After SAGEIBM AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Centrals became operational and theSuper Combat Centers with improved (digital) computers were cancelled, abackup to SAGE was planned[12] in the event the above-ground SAGEAir Defense Direction Center failed.
BUIC began with deployment ofGeneral Electric AN/GPA-37 Course Directing Groups to several Long Range Radar stations. Units designated included the "U.S. Air Force858th Air Defense Group (BUIC) [which became] a permanent operating facility" atNaval Air Station Fallon in Nevada.[13]
BUIC II was used to command and control sites using theBurroughs AN/GSA-51 Radar Course Directing Group. North Truro AFS became the first ADC installation configured for BUIC II.[14]
TheAN/GYK-19[15] (initially AN/GSA-51A) was an upgraded version of the BUIC II system designated AN/GSA-51A[16] and required a larger building than the AN/GSA-51. The first BUIC III site wasFort Fisher AFS,[15] andAir Defense Command's was first installed atFort Fisher Air Force Station, North Carolina.[17]
Although more advanced systems were contemplated, the final design of the BUIC III system was an upgraded version of the BUIC II with around twice the performance.[18]
In 1972, the USAF decided to shut down most of the BUIC sites; most of the sites mothballed by 1974, except for the BUIC III site at Tyndall Air Force Base.[18][19] In Canada the BUIC site at Senneterre was shut down, but St Margarets remained open. The remaining sites were closed between 1983-1984 when SAGE was replaced by theJoint Surveillance System.
TheAN/FYQ-47 Common Digitizer for theJoint Surveillance System, and the Radar Video Data Processor (RVDP) was a combined system for the Air Force andFederal Aviation Administration (FAA), it replaced the SAGEBurroughs AN/FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitting Sets.[16]
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{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)The Systems Office has obtained more detailed information about the Radar Course Directing Group, AN/GPA-37, at a symposium held at RADC on 26 and 27 July. The GPA-37 is intended for backup air defense for SAGE and will be operated at the Heavy RadarP-sites in theZone of Interior.