The Hughes AN/TSQ-51 Air Defense Command and Coordination System[1] was a transportable electronic fire distribution center for automated command and control of remote Nike missile launch batteries. The radar netting system replace the vacuum tube AN/FSG-1 in 6 United States Missile Master bunkers after the upgrade was approved by the United States Department of Defense in 1963; and additional deployments were at Homestead-Miami, Florida, and Providence, Rhode Island, to replace Battery Integration and Radar DIsplay Equipment (BIRDIE) systems;[2] as well as at San Francisco.[3] As with the AN/FSG-1, the AN/TSQ-51 could provide fire control for 24 Nike batteries,[4] but the smaller AN/TSQ-51 could be fielded in 2 trailers.
faster, more reliable and less expensive ... replaces the Army's six Missile Master systems...and four...BIRDIE...employed almost five years. ...the original cost of the Missile Master...was in excess of $9 million for each site, while the Missile Mentor costs less than $1 million each. ...[annual] operating and maintenance costs...would be $250,000, [cf. $1 million...of Missile Master. ...50 to 60 persons [cf.] approximately 200 [for] Missile Master ... Missile Mentor...fits compactly into two trailer vans. One van holds the battle station, display consoles for the defense commander and equipment operators, the other houses the computer and circuit panels ...[At] the Highlands Defense Site, the Missile Mentor [is] in the...building once occupied by [the] Missile Master. ...built under a $10 million contract with the Army Missile Command (MICOM).
