System Development Corporation (SDC) was a computer software company based in Santa Monica, California . Founded in 1955, it is considered the first company of its kind.
149-599: SDC began as the systems engineering group for the SAGE air-defense system at the RAND Corporation . In April 1955, the government contracted with RAND to help write software for the SAGE project. Within a few months, RAND's System Development Division had 500 employees developing SAGE applications. Within a year, the division had up to 1,000 employees. RAND spun off the group in 1957 as a non-profit organization that provided expertise for
298-664: A Sage/Missile Master Integration/ECM-ECCM Test in 1963, and although SAGE used AMIS input of air traffic information, the 1959 plan developed by the July 1958 USAF Air Defense Systems Integration Division for SAGE Air Traffic Integration (SATIN) was cancelled by the DoD. SAGE radar stations , including 78 DEW Line sites in December 1961, provided radar tracks to DCs and had frequency diversity (FD) radars United States Navy picket ships also provided radar tracks, and seaward radar coverage
447-420: A pie fight . Accounts vary as to why the pie fight was cut. In a 1969 interview, Kubrick said, "I decided it was farce and not consistent with the satiric tone of the rest of the film." Critic Alexander Walker observed that "the cream pies were flying around so thickly that people lost definition, and you couldn't really say whom you were looking at." Nile Southern, son of screenwriter Terry Southern, suggested
596-668: A " Kraut name", Staines responds that Strangelove's original German surname was Merkwürdigliebe ("strange love" in German) and that "he changed it when he became a citizen". Strangelove accidentally addresses the president as Mein Führer twice in the film. Dr. Strangelove did not appear in the book Red Alert . The character is an amalgamation of RAND Corporation strategist Herman Kahn , rocket scientist Wernher von Braun (a central figure in Nazi Germany's rocket development program recruited to
745-566: A "Digital Radar Relay" (SAGE data system) used AT&T voice lines, microwave towers, switching centers (e.g., SAGE NNX 764 was at Delta, Utah & 759 at Mounds, Oklahoma ), etc.; and AT&T's "main underground station" was in Kansas (Fairview) with other bunkers in Connecticut (Cheshire), California (Santa Rosa), Iowa (Boone) and Maryland ( Hearthstone Mountain ). CDTS modems at automated radar stations transmitted range and azimuth, and
894-463: A 1952 USAF Project Lincoln "fullscale study" of "a large scale integrated ground control system" resulted in the SAGE approval "first on a trial basis in 1953". The USAF had decided by April 10, 1953, to cancel the competing ADIS (based on CDS), and the University of Michigan's Aeronautical Research Center withdrew in the spring. Air Research and Development Command (ARDC) planned to "finalize
1043-487: A CDTS site. SAGE Direction Centers and Combat Centers were also nodes of NORAD's Alert Network Number 1, and SAC Emergency War Order Traffic included "Positive Control/Noah's Ark instructions" through northern NORAD radio sites to confirm or recall SAC bombers if "SAC decided to launch the alert force before receiving an execution order from the JCS". A SAGE System ergonomic test at Luke AFB in 1964 " showed conclusively that
1192-562: A Combat Center (CC) for "supervision of the several sectors within the division" ("each combat center [had] the capability to coordinate defense for the whole nation"). SAGE became operational in the late 1950s and early 1960s at a combined cost of billions of dollars. It was noted that the deployment cost more than the Manhattan Project —which it was, in a way, defending against. Throughout its development, there were continual concerns about its real ability to deal with large attacks, and
1341-798: A September 1959 experimental ATABE test between an "abbreviated" AN/FSQ-7 staged at Fort Banks and the Lexington XD-1, the 1961 "SAGE/ Missile Master test program" conducted large-scale field testing of the ATABE "mathematical model" using radar tracks of actual SAC and ADC aircraft flying mock penetrations into defense sectors. Similarly conducted was the joint SAC-NORAD Sky Shield II exercise followed by Sky Shield III on 2 September 1962 On July 15, 1963, ESD's CMC Management Office assumed "responsibilities in connection with BMEWS , Space Track , SAGE, and BUIC." The Chidlaw Building 's computerized NORAD/ADC Combined Operations Center in 1963 became
1490-489: A bomb shelter, with a triangular shape (based on Kubrick's idea that this particular shape would prove the most resistant against an explosion). One side of the room was covered with gigantic strategic maps reflecting in a shiny black floor inspired by dance scenes in Fred Astaire films. In the middle of the room there was a large circular table lit from above by a circle of lamps, suggesting a poker table. Kubrick insisted that
1639-605: A certain heading or vector . This Dowding system was the first ground-controlled interception (GCI) system of large scale, covering the entirety of the UK. It proved enormously successful during the Battle of Britain , and is credited as being a key part of the RAF's success. The system was slow, often providing information that was up to five minutes out of date. Against propeller driven bombers flying at perhaps 225 miles per hour (362 km/h) this
SECTION 10
#17328487653531788-614: A city-sized area. When the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb in August 1949, the topic of air defense of the US became important for the first time. A study group, the "Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee" was set up under the direction of Dr. George Valley to consider the problem, and is known to history as the "Valley Committee". Their December report noted a key problem in air defense using ground-based radars. A bomber approaching
1937-583: A computer to handle the task of taking reports and developing tracks had been explored beginning late in the war. By 1944, analog computers had been installed at the CH stations to automatically convert radar readings into map locations, eliminating two people. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy began experimenting with the Comprehensive Display System (CDS), another analog computer that took X and Y locations from
2086-727: A computer was possible. The Valley Committee was introduced to Jerome Wiesner , associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT . Wiesner noted that the Servomechanisms Laboratory had already begun development of a machine that might be fast enough. This was the Whirlwind I , originally developed for the Office of Naval Research as a general purpose flight simulator that could simulate any current or future aircraft by changing its software. Wiesner introduced
2235-418: A copy of a 1950s cover girl image programmed for SAGE display was identified as the "earliest known figurative computer art ". Company histories identifying employees' roles in SAGE include the 1981 System Builders: The Story of SDC and the 1998 Architects of Information Advantage: The MITRE Corporation Since 1958 . Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
2384-537: A cursive "Dr. Strangelove" painted over the rear entry hatch on the right side of the fuselage. In 1967, some of the flying footage from Dr. Strangelove was re-used in The Beatles ' television film Magical Mystery Tour . As told by editor Roy Benson in the BBC radio documentary Celluloid Beatles , the production team of Magical Mystery Tour lacked footage to cover the sequence for the song " Flying ." Benson had access to
2533-724: A map and automatically generated tracks from repeated inputs. Similar systems began development with the Royal Canadian Navy , DATAR , and the US Navy , the Naval Tactical Data System . A similar system was also specified for the Nike SAM project, specifically referring to a US version of CDS, coordinating the defense over a battle area so that multiple batteries did not fire on a single target. All of these systems were relatively small in geographic scale, generally tracking within
2682-641: A nuclear accident that built on the widespread Cold War fear for survival. While doing research, Kubrick gradually became aware of the subtle and paradoxical " balance of terror " between nuclear powers. At Kubrick's request, Alastair Buchan (the head of the Institute for Strategic Studies ) recommended the thriller novel Red Alert by Peter George . Kubrick was impressed with the book, which had also been praised by game theorist and future Nobel Prize in Economics winner Thomas Schelling in an article written for
2831-425: A photo-essay on Southern in August 1964 which implied that Southern had been the script's principal author—a misperception neither Kubrick nor Southern did much to dispel— George wrote a letter to the magazine, published in its September 1964 issue, in which he pointed out that he had both written the film's source novel and collaborated on various incarnations of the script over a period of ten months, whereas "Southern
2980-644: A pre-emptive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. It separately follows the President of the United States (Sellers), his advisers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff , and a Royal Air Force exchange officer (Sellers) as they attempt to prevent the crew of a B-52 (following orders from the general) from bombing the Soviet Union and starting a nuclear war. The film is often considered one of the best comedies ever made and one of
3129-653: A production contract for the Lincoln Transition System". Similarly, the July 22, 1953, report by the Bull Committee ( NSC 159) identified completing the Mid-Canada Line radars as the top priority and "on a second-priority-basis: the Lincoln automated system" (the decision to control Bomarc with the automated system was also in 1953.) The Priority Permanent System with the initial (priority) radar stations
SECTION 20
#17328487653533278-409: A radar station would detect the signals from the radar long before the reflection off the bomber was strong enough to be detected by the station. The committee suggested that when this occurred, the bomber would descend to low altitude, thereby greatly limiting the radar horizon , allowing the bomber to fly past the station undetected. Although flying at low altitude greatly increased fuel consumption ,
3427-475: A regular basis, allowing maintenance on the unused side. Information was fed to the DCs from a network of radar stations as well as readiness information from various defense sites. The computers, based on the raw radar data, developed "tracks" for the reported targets, and automatically calculated which defenses were within range. Operators used light guns to select targets on-screen for further information, select one of
3576-477: A senior officer to launch a retaliatory nuclear attack on the Soviets if all of his superior officers have been killed in a first strike on the United States. Trying every CRM code combination to issue a recall order would require two days, so Muffley orders the U.S. Army to storm the base and arrest General Ripper. Turgidson, noting the slim odds of recalling the planes in time, then proposes that Muffley not only let
3725-518: A single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. SAGE directed and controlled the NORAD response to a possible Soviet air attack, operating in this role from the late 1950s into the 1980s. Its enormous computers and huge displays remain a part of Cold War lore, and after decommissioning were common props in movies such as Dr. Strangelove and Colossus , and on science fiction TV series such as The Time Tunnel . The processing power behind SAGE
3874-542: A small portion of it, containing some projects that had originated in SDC, remained with Unisys. In 1996, Loral sold Paramax to Lockheed Martin . In 1997, the Paramax business unit was separated from Lockheed Martin under the control of Frank Lanza (who had been Loral's president and CEO); and became a subsidiary of L-3 Communications . In 2019, L-3 Communications merged with Harris Corporation to form L3Harris Technologies . In
4023-414: A two-level set which Kubrick initially liked, only to decide later that it was not what he wanted. Adam next began work on the design that was used in the film, an expressionist set that was compared with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Fritz Lang's Metropolis . It was an enormous concrete room (130 feet (40 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide, with a 35-foot (11 m)-high ceiling) suggesting
4172-560: Is made. The president's German scientific adviser, the paraplegic former Nazi Dr. Strangelove, points out that such a doomsday machine would only have been an effective deterrent if everyone knew about it; de Sadeski replies that Kissov had planned to reveal its existence to the world the following week at the Party Congress . When the U.S. Army troops gain control of Burpelson, General Ripper commits suicide. Mandrake deduces Ripper's CRM code from doodles on his desk blotter and relays it to
4321-570: Is reflected in Turgidson's remark to the president about the outcome of a preemptive nuclear war: "Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops, uh, depending on the breaks." Turgidson has a binder that is labelled "World Targets in Megadeaths," a term coined in 1953 by Kahn and popularized in his 1960 book On Thermonuclear War . The fallout-shelter-network proposal mentioned in
4470-570: The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and reprinted in The Observer , and immediately bought the film rights. In 2006, Schelling wrote that conversations between Kubrick, Schelling, and George in late 1960 about a treatment of Red Alert updated with intercontinental missiles eventually led to the making of the film. In collaboration with George, Kubrick started writing a screenplay based on
4619-479: The 1952 and 1956 presidential elections and the U.N. ambassador during the Cuban Missile Crisis . In early takes, Sellers simulated cold symptoms to emphasize the character's apparent weakness. That caused frequent laughter among the film crew, ruining several takes. Kubrick ultimately found this comic portrayal inappropriate, feeling Muffley should be a serious character. In later takes, Sellers played
System Development Corporation - Misplaced Pages Continue
4768-730: The 646th Radar Squadron (SAGE) October 1.) Additional sectors included the Los Angeles Air Defense Sector (SAGE) designated in February 1959. A June 23 JCS memorandum approved the new "March 1959 Reorganization Plan" for HQ NORAD/CONAD/ADC. Project Wild Goose teams of Air Materiel Command personnel installed c. 1960 the Ground Air Transmit Receive stations for the SAGE TDDL (in April 1961, Sault Ste Marie
4917-561: The AUTOVON Network. SAGE Sector Warning Networks ( cf. NORAD Division Warning Networks) provided the radar netting communications for each DC and eventually also allowed transfer of command guidance to autopilots of TDDL-equipped interceptors for vectoring to targets via the Ground to Air Data Link Subsystem and the Ground Air Transmit Receive (GATR) network of radio sites for "HF/VHF/UHF voice & TDDL" each generally co-located at
5066-815: The Air Defense Engineering Service (ADES), which was contracted in January 1954. IBM delivered the FSQ-7 computer's prototype in June 1956, and Kingston's XD-2 with dual computers guided a Cape Canaveral BOMARC to a successful aircraft intercept on August 7, 1958. Initially contracted to RCA , the AN/FSQ-7 production units were started by IBM in 1958 (32 DCs were planned for networking NORAD regions.) IBM's production contract developed 56 SAGE computers for $ .5 billion (~$ 18 million per computer pair in each FSQ-7) — cf.
5215-693: The Air Force Council recommended 1955 funding for "ADC to convert to the Lincoln automated system" ("redesignated the SAGE System in 1954"). The " experimental SAGE subsector, located in Lexington, Mass. , was completed in 1955…with a prototype AN/FSQ-7…known as XD-1 " (single computer system in Building F). In 1955, Air Force personnel began IBM training at the Kingston, New York , prototype facility, and
5364-596: The Air Movements Identification Service (AMIS) provided air traffic data to the SAGE System. Radar tracks by telephone calls (e.g., from Manual Control Centers in the Albuquerque , Minot , and Oklahoma City sectors) could be entered via consoles of the 4th floor "Manual Inputs" room adjacent to the "Communication Recording-Monitoring and VHF" room. In 1966, SAGE communications were integrated into
5513-522: The Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States , also stars George C. Scott , Sterling Hayden , Keenan Wynn , Slim Pickens , and Tracy Reed and is loosely based on the thriller novel Red Alert (1958) by Peter George , who co-wrote the screenplay with Kubrick and Terry Southern . The story concerns an unhinged United States Air Force general who orders
5662-591: The F-94 Starfire , F-89 Scorpion , F-101B Voodoo , and F-4 Phantom were controlled by SAGE GCI. The F-104 Starfighter was "too small to be equipped with [SAGE] data link equipment" and used voice-commanded GCI, but the F-106 Delta Dart was equipped for the automated data link (ADL) . The ADL was designed to allow Interceptors that reached targets to transmit real-time tactical friendly and enemy movements and to determine whether sector defence reinforcement
5811-543: The Operation Sky Shield tests showed that only about one-fourth of enemy bombers would have been intercepted. Nevertheless, SAGE was the backbone of NORAD 's air defense system into the 1980s, by which time the tube-based FSQ-7s were increasingly costly to maintain and completely outdated. Today the same command and control task is carried out by microcomputers , based on the same basic underlying data. Just prior to World War II , Royal Air Force (RAF) tests with
5960-472: The Royal Air Force ), to put the base on alert (condition red, the most intense lockdown status), confiscate all privately owned radios from base personnel and issue "Wing Attack Plan R" to the planes of the 843rd Bomb Wing. At the time of issuance of that order, the planes, flying B-52 bombers armed with thermonuclear bombs , are on airborne alert two hours from their targets inside the Soviet Union . All
6109-527: The Strategic Defense Architecture (SDA-2000) planned an integrated air defense and air traffic control network. The USAF declared full operational capability of the first seven Joint Surveillance System ROCCs on December 23, 1980, with Hughes AN/FYQ-93 systems, and many of the SAGE radar stations became Joint Surveillance System (JSS) sites (e.g., San Pedro Hill Z-39 became FAA Ground Equipment Facility J-31 .) The North Bay AN/FSQ-7
System Development Corporation - Misplaced Pages Continue
6258-636: The Syracuse sector's DC-03 was operational ("the SAGE system [did not] become operational until January 1959.") Construction of CFB North Bay in Canada was started in 1959 for a bunker ~700 feet (210 m) underground (operational October 1, 1963), and by 1963 the system had 3 Combat Centers. The 23 SAGE centers included 1 in Canada, and the "SAGE control centers reached their full 22 site deployments in 1961 (out of 46 originally planned)." The completed Minot AFB blockhouse received an AN/FSQ-7, but never received
6407-484: The ad-libs into the written screenplay so that the improvised lines became part of the canonical screenplay, a practice known as retroscripting . According to film critic Alexander Walker , the author of biographies of both Sellers and Kubrick, the role of Group Captain Lionel Mandrake was the easiest of the three for Sellers to play, since he was aided by his experience of mimicking his superiors while serving in
6556-495: The " 4620th Air Defense Wing (experimental SAGE) was established at Lincoln Laboratory" On May 3, 1956, General Partridge presented CINCNORAD 's Operational Concept for Control of Air Defense Weapons to the Armed Forces Policy Council , and a June 1956 symposium presentation identified advanced programming methods of SAGE code. For SAGE consulting Western Electric and Bell Telephone Laboratories formed
6705-606: The "SAGE Defense System" ("Air Defense Weapons System "). Burroughs Corporation was a prime contractor for SAGE network interface equipment which included 134 Burroughs AN/FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitting Sets (CDTS) at radar stations and other sites, the IBM supplied AN/FSQ-7 at 23 Direction Centers, and the AN/FSQ-8 Combat Control Computers at 8 Combat Centers. The 2 computers of each AN/FSQ-7 together weighing 275 short tons-force (2,450 kN) used about ⅓ of
6854-404: The "missile gap" but it primarily directs its satire on the theory of mutually assured destruction (MAD), in which each side is supposed to be deterred from a nuclear war by the prospect of a universal cataclysm regardless of who "won". Military strategist and former physicist Herman Kahn, in the book On Thermonuclear War (1960), used the theoretical example of a "doomsday machine" to illustrate
7003-536: The $ 2 billion WWII Manhattan Project . General Operational Requirements (GOR) 79 and 97 were "the basic USAF documents guiding development and improvement of [the semi-automatic] ground environment. Prior to fielding the AN/FSQ-7 centrals, the USAF initially deployed "pre-SAGE semiautomatic intercept systems" ( AN/GPA-37 ) to Air Defense Direction Centers , ADDCs (e.g., at " NORAD Control Centers "). On April 22, 1958, NORAD approved Nike AADCPs to be collocated with
7152-736: The 1960s, SDC also developed the JOVIAL programming language (Jules' Own Version of the International Algorithmic Language, for Jules Schwartz) and the Time-Shared Data Management System (TDMS), an inverted file database system . Both were commonly used in real-time military systems. Semi-Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce
7301-576: The 1960s, SDC developed the timesharing system for the AN/FSQ-32 (Q32) mainframe computer for Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The Q-32 was one of the first systems to support both multiple users and inter-computer communications. Experiments with a dedicated modem connection to the TX-2 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology led to computer communication applications such as email . In
7450-500: The 1960s, and its cockpit was off-limits to the film crew. When some United States Air Force personnel were invited to view the reconstructed B-52 cockpit, they said that "it was absolutely correct, even to the little black box which was the CRM." It was so accurate that Kubrick was concerned about whether Adam's team had carried out all its research legally. In several shots of the B-52 flying over
7599-401: The Bomb (known simply and more commonly as Dr. Strangelove ) is a 1964 political satire black comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers in three roles, including the title character. The film, financed and released by Columbia Pictures , was a co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom. The film, which satirizes
SECTION 50
#17328487653537748-460: The Bottom of the Sea , amongst others). SAGE histories include a 1983 special issue of the Annals of the History of Computing , and various personal histories were published, e.g., Valley in 1985 and Jacobs in 1986. In 1998, the SAGE System was identified as 1 of 4 "Monumental Projects", and a SAGE lecture presented the vintage film In Your Defense followed by anecdotal information from Les Earnest , Jim Wong , and Paul Edwards . In 2013,
7897-586: The DC's 2nd floor space and at ~$ 50 per instruction had approximately 125,000 "computer instructions support[ing] actual operational air-defense mission" processing. The AN/FSQ-7 at Luke AFB had additional memory (32K total) and was used as a "computer center for all other" DCs. Project 416L was the USAF predecessor of NORAD, SAC, and other military organizations' "Big L" computer systems (e.g., 438L Air Force Intelligence Data Handling System & 496L Space Detection and Tracking System ). Network communications: The SAGE network of computers connected by
8046-409: The FSQ-7 was based on the IBM 701 but, while the 701 was investigated by MIT engineers, its design was ultimately rejected due to high error rates and generally being "inadequate to the task." IBM's contributions were essential to the success of the FSQ-7, and IBM benefited immensely from its association with the SAGE project, most evidently during development of the IBM 704 . On October 28, 1953,
8195-582: The FSQ-8 (the April 1, 1959, Minot Air Defense Sector consolidated with the Grand Forks ADS on March 1, 1963). The SAGE system included a direction center (DC) assigned to air defense sectors as they were defined at the time. * Some of the originally planned 32 DCs were never completed and DCs were planned at installations for additional sectors: Calypso / Raleigh NC, England / Shreveport LA, Fort Knox KY, Kirtland / Albuquerque NM, Robins / Miami , Scott / St. Louis , Webb / San Antonio TX. The environment allowed radar station personnel to monitor
8344-416: The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen ), which were used as targets, are plainly visible. In others, the smoke trails of rockets used to create a calibration backdrop can be seen. Goon Show writer and friend of Sellers Spike Milligan was credited with suggesting Vera Lynn's song for the ending. It was originally planned for the film to end with a scene that depicted everyone in the War Room involved in
8493-406: The Hamilton AFB BUIC II was installed in the former MCC building when it was converted to a SAGE Combat Center in 1966 (CC-05). On June 3, 1963, the Direction Centers at Marysville CA, Marquette/K I Sawyer AFB (DC-14) MI, Stewart AFB NY (DC-02), and Moses Lake WA (DC-15) were planned for closing and at the end of 1969, only 6 CONUS SAGE DCs remained (DC-03, -04, -10, -12, -20, & -21) all with
8642-405: The IBM 701 series of computers. The Q-7 was notable in that it was based on vacuum tubes. Intended as a duplex, with two computers for operational sites, there was a single Q-7 installed at the SDC complex in Santa Monica (2400 and 2500 Colorado; now occupied by the Water Garden). It was said that at the time the Q-7 building, a separate structure, required half of the air conditioning then used in
8791-403: The NORAD Command Center ( Ent AFB , 1963 Chidlaw Building , & 1966 Cheyenne Mountain ). NORAD's integration of air warning data (at the ADOC ) along with space surveillance, intelligence, and other data allowed attack assessment of an Air Defense Emergency for alerting the SAC command centers (465L SACCS nodes at Offutt AFB & The Notch ), The Pentagon / Raven Rock NMCC /ANMCC, and
8940-447: The NSDC automatically communicated crosstelling of "SAGE reference track data" to/from adjacent sectors' DCs and to 10 Nike Missile Master AADCPs . Forwardtelling automatically communicated data from multiple DCs to a 3-story Combat Center (CC) usually at one of the sector's DCs ( cf. planned Hamilton AFB CC-05 near the Beale AFB DC-18) for coordinating the air battle in the NORAD region (multiple sectors) and which forwarded data to
9089-420: The Pentagon and tries to stop Ripper, who locks them both in his office. Ripper tells Mandrake that he believes the Soviets have been fluoridating American water supplies to pollute the "precious bodily fluids " of Americans. Mandrake realizes Ripper has gone completely mad. In the War Room at the Pentagon, General Buck Turgidson briefs President Merkin Muffley and other officers about how "Plan R" enables
SECTION 60
#17328487653539238-403: The Pentagon. Using the code, Strategic Air Command successfully recalls all of the bombers except for one, commanded by Major T. J. "King" Kong. Because its radio equipment was damaged by a Soviet SAM , it is unable to receive or send communications. To conserve fuel, Kong flies below radar and switches targets, thus preventing Soviet air radar from detecting and intercepting their plane. Because
9387-423: The RAF during World War II . There is also a heavy resemblance to Sellers's friend and occasional co-star Terry-Thomas and the prosthetic -limbed RAF flying ace Sir Douglas Bader . For his performance as President Merkin Muffley, Sellers assumed a Midwestern American English accent. Sellers drew inspiration for the role from Adlai Stevenson , a former Illinois governor who was the Democratic candidate for
9536-400: The Soviet missile also damaged the bomb bay doors, Kong enters the bay and repairs the electrical wiring. When he is successful, the bomb drops with him straddling it. Kong joyously hoots and waves his cowboy hat as he rides the falling bomb to his death. In the War Room, Dr. Strangelove recommends that the President gather several hundred thousand people to live in deep underground mines where
9685-418: The US after the war), and Edward Teller , the "father of the hydrogen bomb". Rumors claimed the character was based on Henry Kissinger , but Kubrick and Sellers denied this; Sellers said: "Strangelove was never modeled after Kissinger—that's a popular misconception. It was always Wernher von Braun." Furthermore, Henry Kissinger points out in his memoirs that at the time of the writing of Dr. Strangelove , he
9834-424: The USAF manual ADDCs at Duncanville Air Force Station TX, Olathe Air Force Station KS, Belleville Air Force Station IL, and Osceola Air Force Station KS. In 1957, SAGE System groundbreaking at McChord AFB was for DC-12 where the "electronic brain" began arriving in November 1958, and the "first SAGE regional battle post [CC-01] began operating in Syracuse, New York in early 1959". BOMARC "crew training
9983-464: The USSR, considered MAD to be foolish bravado, and urged the United States to instead plan for proportionality , and thus even a limited nuclear war. With this reasoning, Kahn became one of the architects of the flexible response doctrine which, while superficially resembling MAD, allowed for the possibility of responding to a limited nuclear strike with a proportional, or calibrated, return of fire (see Conflict escalation ). Kahn educated Kubrick on
10132-423: The United States military in the design, integration, and testing of large, complex, computer-controlled systems. SDC became a for-profit corporation in 1969, and began to offer its services to all organizations rather than only to the American military. The first two systems that SDC produced were the SAGE system, written for the IBM AN/FSQ-7 [Q-7] computer, and the SAGE System Training Program [SSTP], written for
10281-645: The United States. He had to hurry and get his first passport. He arrived on the set, and somebody said, "Gosh, he's arrived in costume!", not realizing that that's how he always dressed ... with the cowboy hat and the fringed jacket and the cowboy boots—and that he wasn't putting on the character—that's the way he talked. Pickens, who had previously played only supporting and character roles, said that his appearance as Maj. Kong greatly improved his career. He later commented, "After Dr. Strangelove , my salary jumped five times, and assistant directors started saying 'Hey, Slim' instead of 'Hey, you'." George C. Scott played
10430-442: The Valley Committee to Whirlwind's project lead, Jay Forrester , who convinced him that Whirlwind was sufficiently capable. In September 1950, an early microwave early-warning radar system at Hanscom Field was connected to Whirlwind using a custom interface developed by Forrester's team. An aircraft was flown past the site, and the system digitized the radar information and successfully sent it to Whirlwind. With this demonstration,
10579-438: The activation of the doomsday device. Columbia Pictures agreed to finance the film if Peter Sellers played at least four major roles. The condition stemmed from the studio's opinion that much of the success of Kubrick's previous film Lolita (1962) was based on Sellers's performance, in which his single character assumes several identities. Sellers also played three roles in The Mouse That Roared (1959). Kubrick accepted
10728-400: The aerial footage filmed for the B-52 sequences of Dr. Strangelove , which was stored at Shepperton Studios. The use of the footage prompted Kubrick to call Benson to complain. Red Alert author Peter George collaborated on the screenplay with Kubrick and satirist Terry Southern. Red Alert was more solemn than its film version, and it did not include the character Dr. Strangelove, though
10877-405: The aim of beginning a development lab similar to the war-era Radiation Laboratory that made enormous progress in radar technology. Killian was initially uninterested, desiring to return the school to its peacetime civilian charter. Ridenour eventually convinced Killian the idea was sound by describing the way the lab would lead to the development of a local electronics industry based on the needs of
11026-456: The aircraft commence attack flights on the USSR and set their radios to allow communications only through their CRM 114 discriminators , which are designed to accept only communications preceded by a secret three-letter code known only to General Ripper. Happening upon a radio that had been missed earlier and hearing regular civilian broadcasting, Mandrake realizes that no attack order has been issued by
11175-472: The ambassador informs President Muffley that the Soviet Union created a doomsday machine as a nuclear deterrent ; it consists of many buried cobalt bombs , which are set to detonate automatically should any nuclear attack strike the country. The resulting nuclear fallout would render the Earth's surface uninhabitable for 93 years. The device cannot be deactivated, as it is programmed to explode if any such attempt
11324-478: The attack proceed but send reinforcements. Muffley rejects Turgidson's recommendation and instead brings Soviet ambassador Alexei de Sadeski into the War Room to telephone Soviet Premier Dimitri Kissov. Muffley warns the premier of the impending attack and offers to reveal the targets, flight plans, and defensive systems of the bombers so that the Soviets can protect themselves. After a heated discussion with Kissov,
11473-596: The available defenses, and issue commands to attack. These commands would then be automatically sent to the defense site via teleprinter . Connecting the various sites was an enormous network of telephones, modems and teleprinters. Later additions to the system allowed SAGE's tracking data to be sent directly to CIM-10 Bomarc missiles and some of the US Air Force 's interceptor aircraft in-flight, directly updating their autopilots to maintain an intercept course without operator intervention. Each DC also forwarded data to
11622-408: The book. While writing the screenplay, they benefited from some brief consultations with Schelling and later, Herman Kahn. In following the tone of the book, Kubrick originally intended to film the story as a serious drama. However, he began to see comedy inherent in the idea of mutual assured destruction as he wrote the first draft. He later said: My idea of doing it as a nightmare comedy came in
11771-603: The character Rotwang in Fritz Lang 's film Metropolis (1927). Sellers's Strangelove takes from Rotwang the single black gloved hand (which, in Rotwang's case, is mechanical because of a lab accident), the wild hair, and, most importantly, his ability to avoid being controlled by political power. According to Alexander Walker, Sellers improvised Dr. Strangelove's lapse into the Nazi salute , borrowing one of Kubrick's black leather gloves for
11920-497: The character's Texan accent. Kubrick pleaded with him, and he asked the screenwriter Terry Southern (who had been raised in Texas) to record a tape with Kong's lines spoken in the correct accent, which he practiced using Southern's tapes. But after the start of shooting in the aircraft, Sellers sprained his ankle and could no longer work in the cramped aircraft mockup. Sellers improvised much of his dialogue, with Kubrick incorporating
12069-454: The characters Groeteschele and Strangelove. The plan worked, and the suit was settled out of court, with the agreement that Columbia Pictures, which had financed and was distributing Strangelove , also buy Fail Safe , which had been an independently financed production. Kubrick insisted that the studio release his movie first, and Fail Safe opened eight months after Dr. Strangelove , to critical acclaim but mediocre ticket sales. The end of
12218-482: The computer would need to be fed information directly, eliminating any manual translation by phone operators, and it would have to be able to analyze that information and automatically develop tracks. A system tasked with defending cities against the predicted future Soviet bomber fleet would have to be dramatically more powerful than the models used in the NTDS or DATAR. The Committee then had to consider whether or not such
12367-604: The concept of a centralized system as proposed by the Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee, and we agree that the central coordinating apparatus of this system should be a high-speed electronic digital computer." The report went on to describe a new lab that would be used for generic technology development for the Air Force, Army and Navy, and would be known as Project Lincoln. Loomis took over direction of Project Lincoln and began planning by following
12516-424: The concept of the semi-realistic "cobalt-thorium G" doomsday machine, and then Kubrick used the concept for the film. Kahn in his writings and talks would often come across as cold and calculating, for example, with his use of the term "megadeaths" and in his willingness to estimate how many human lives the United States could lose and still rebuild economically. Kahn's dispassionate attitude towards millions of deaths
12665-413: The demand, later saying that "such crass and grotesque stipulations are the sine qua non of the motion-picture business." Sellers ended up playing three of the four roles written for him. He had been expected to play Air Force Major T. J. "King" Kong, the B-52 aircraft commander, but from the beginning, Sellers was reluctant. He felt his workload was too heavy and worried he would not properly portray
12814-539: The early weeks of working on the screenplay. I found that in trying to put meat on the bones and to imagine the scenes fully, one had to keep leaving out of it things which were either absurd or paradoxical, in order to keep it from being funny; and these things seemed to be close to the heart of the scenes in question. Among the titles that Kubrick considered for the film were Dr. Doomsday or: How to Start World War III Without Even Trying , Dr. Strangelove's Secret Uses of Uranus , and Wonderful Bomb . After deciding to make
12963-610: The entire city of Santa Monica - perhaps in jest, but close to the truth. In late 1961 SDC became the Computer Program Integration Contractor [CPIC] for the Air Force Satellite Control Network, and maintained that role for many years. As a part of that role, SDC wrote software for and delivered it to the AFSCN's then string of satellite tracking stations both in the US and abroad. In 1981, SDC
13112-420: The fight was intended to be less jovial: "Since they were laughing, it was unusable, because instead of having that totally black, which would have been amazing, like, this blizzard, which in a sense is metaphorical for all of the missiles that are coming, as well, you just have these guys having a good old time. So, as Kubrick later said, 'it was a disaster of Homeric proportions. ' " A first test screening of
13261-481: The film a black comedy, Kubrick brought in Terry Southern as a co-writer in late 1962. The choice was influenced by reading Southern's comic novel The Magic Christian , which Kubrick had received as a gift from Peter Sellers, and which itself became a Sellers film in 1969. Southern made important contributions to the film, but his role led to a rift between Kubrick and Peter George; after Life magazine published
13410-500: The film shows Dr. Strangelove exclaiming, " Mein Führer, I can walk!" before cutting to footage of nuclear explosions, with Vera Lynn and her audience singing "We'll Meet Again". This footage comes from nuclear tests such as shot "Baker" of Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll , the Trinity test , a test from Operation Sandstone and the hydrogen bomb tests from Operation Redwing and Operation Ivy . In some shots, old warships (such as
13559-420: The film was composed by Laurie Johnson , and the special effects were done by Wally Veevers. The opening theme is an instrumental version of " Try a Little Tenderness ." The theme of the chorus from the bomb run scene is a modification of " When Johnny Comes Marching Home ." Sellers and Kubrick got along well during the film's production and shared a love of photography. For the War Room, Ken Adam first designed
13708-482: The film was scheduled for November 22, 1963, the day of the assassination of John F. Kennedy . The film was just weeks from its scheduled premiere, but because of the assassination, the release was delayed until late January 1964, as it was felt that the public was in no mood for such a film any sooner. During post-production, one line by Slim Pickens, "a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Dallas with all that stuff",
13857-429: The film, with its inherently high radiation protection characteristics, has similarities and contrasts to that of the real Swiss civil defense network. Switzerland has an overcapacity of nuclear fallout shelters for the country's population size, and by law, new homes must still be built with a fallout shelter. If the US did that, it would violate the spirit of MAD and, according to MAD adherents, allegedly destabilize
14006-496: The filming of Dr. Strangelove , Stanley Kubrick learned that Fail Safe , a film with a similar theme, was being produced. Although Fail Safe was to be an ultrarealistic thriller, Kubrick feared that its plot resemblance would damage his film's box office potential, especially if it were released first. Indeed, the novel Fail-Safe (on which the film is based) is so similar to Red Alert that Peter George sued on charges of plagiarism and settled out of court. What worried Kubrick
14155-411: The final film, rather than the more restrained ones, allegedly causing Scott to swear never to work with Kubrick again. During the filming, Kubrick and Scott had different opinions regarding certain scenes, but Kubrick obtained Scott's compliance largely by beating him at chess , which they played frequently on the set. Stanley Kubrick started with nothing but a vague idea to make a thriller about
14304-849: The greatest films of all time . In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it 26th in its list of the best American movies (in the 2007 edition, the film ranked 39th), and in 2000, it was listed as number three on its list of the funniest American films . In 1989, the United States Library of Congress included Dr. Strangelove as one of the first 25 films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture , Best Director , Best Adapted Screenplay , and Best Actor for Sellers. The film
14453-461: The headquarters base: "9th [at] Geiger Field … 32d, Syracuse AFS … 35th, Dobbins AFB … 58th, Wright-Patterson AFB … 85th, Andrews AFB ". The 26th SAGE Division (New York, Boston, Syracuse & Bangor SAGE sectors)--the 1st of the SAGE divisions—became operational at Hancock Field on 1 January 1959 after the redesignation started for AC&W Squadrons (e.g., the Highlands P-9 unit became
14602-471: The highest echelon of the SAGE computer network when operations moved from Ent AFB's 1954 manual Command Center to the partially underground "war room". Also in 1963, radar stations were renumbered (e.g., Cambria AFS was redesignated from P-2 to Z-2 on July 31) and the vacuum-tube SAGE System was completed (and obsolete). On "June 26, 1958,…the New York sector became operational" and on December 1, 1958,
14751-603: The initial BUIC systems were phased out 1974–5. ADC had been renamed Aerospace Defense Command on January 15, 1968, and its general surveillance radar stations transferred to ADTAC in 1979 when the ADC major command was broken up (space surveillance stations went to SAC and the Aerospace Defense Center was activated as a DRU .) For airborne command posts, "as early as 1962 the Air Force began exploring possibilities for an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)", and
14900-457: The lab and the students who would leave the lab to start their own companies. Killian agreed to at least consider the issue, and began Project Charles to consider the size and scope of such a lab. Project Charles was placed under the direction of Francis Wheeler Loomis and included 28 scientists, about half of whom were already associated with MIT. Their study ran from February to August 1951, and in their final report they stated that "We endorse
15049-439: The last half of the year as low-altitude, unmanned gap-filler radars. The total consisted of 47 gap-filler stations, 75 Permanent System radars, 39 semimobile radars, 19 Pinetree stations ,…1 Lashup -era radar and a single Texas Tower ". "On 31 December 1958, USAF ADC had 187 operational land-based radar stations" (74 were "P-sites", 29 "M-sites", 13 "SM-sites", & 68 " ZI Gap Fillers"). Systems scientist Jay Forrester
15198-482: The last one containing both the motel room and General Ripper's office and outside corridor. The studio's buildings were also used as the Air Force base exterior. The film's set design was done by Ken Adam , the production designer of several James Bond films (at the time he had already worked on Dr. No ). The black-and-white cinematography was by Gilbert Taylor , and the film was edited by Anthony Harvey and an uncredited Kubrick. The original musical score for
15347-463: The lead of the earlier RadLab. By September 1951, only months after the Charles report, Project Lincoln had more than 300 employees. By the end of the summer of 1952 this had risen to 1300, and after another year, 1800. The only building suitable for classified work at that point was Building 22, suitable for a few hundred people at most, although some relief was found by moving the non-classified portions of
15496-461: The limitations of MAD, which was developed by John von Neumann. The concept of such a machine is consistent with MAD doctrine when it is logically pursued to its conclusion. It thus worried Kahn that the military might like the idea of a doomsday machine and build one. Kahn, a leading critic of MAD and the Eisenhower administration 's doctrine of massive retaliation upon the slightest provocation by
15645-524: The main plot and technical elements were quite similar. A novelization of the actual film, rather than a reprint of the original novel, was published by Peter George, based on an early draft in which the narrative is bookended by the account of aliens, who, having arrived at a desolated Earth, try to piece together what has happened. It was reissued in October 2015 by Candy Jar Books, featuring never-before-published material on Strangelove's early career. During
15794-562: The most was that Fail Safe boasted the acclaimed director Sidney Lumet and the first-rate dramatic actors Henry Fonda as the American president and Walter Matthau as the adviser to the Pentagon, Professor Groeteschele. Kubrick decided to throw a legal wrench into Fail Safe ' s production gears. Lumet recalled in the documentary Inside the Making of Dr. Strangelove : "We started casting. Fonda
15943-543: The new Chain Home (CH) radars had demonstrated that relaying information to the fighter aircraft directly from the radar sites was not feasible. The radars determined the map coordinates of the enemy, but could generally not see the fighters at the same time. This meant the fighters had to be able to determine where to fly to perform an interception but were often unaware of their own exact location and unable to calculate an interception while also flying their aircraft. The solution
16092-637: The new Lincoln Laboratory , the USAF conducted Project Claude which concluded an improved air defense system was needed. In a test for the US military at Bedford, Massachusetts on 20 April 1951, data produced by a radar was transmitted through telephone lines to a computer for the first time, showing the detection of a mock enemy aircraft. This first test was directed by C. Robert Wieser . The "Summer Study Group" of scientists in 1952 recommended "computerized air direction centers…to be ready by 1954." IBM 's "Project High" assisted under their October 1952 Whirlwind subcontract with Lincoln Laboratory , and
16241-562: The northern air approaches to the United States" (e.g., in Canada). After a January 1950 meeting, Valley and Jay Forrester proposed using the Whirlwind I (completed 1951) for air defense. On August 18, 1950, when the " 1954 Interceptor " requirements were issued, the USAF "noted that manual techniques of aircraft warning and control would impose "intolerable" delays" ( Air Materiel Command (AMC) published Electronic Air Defense Environment for 1954 in December .) During February–August 1951 at
16390-546: The polar ice en route to Russia, the shadow of the actual camera plane, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress , is visible on the icecap below. The B-52 was a scale model composited into the Arctic footage, which was sped up to create a sense of jet speed. Home movie footage included in Inside the Making of Dr. Strangelove on the 2001 Special Edition DVD release of the film shows clips of the B-17 with
16539-536: The project, administration and similar, to Building 20. But this was clearly insufficient space. After considering a variety of suitable locations, a site at Laurence G. Hanscom Field was selected, with the groundbreaking taking place in 1951. The terms of the National Security Act were formulated during 1947, leading to the creation of the US Air Force out of the former US Army Air Force . During April of
16688-425: The public via CONELRAD radio stations. The Burroughs 416L SAGE component ( ESD Project 416L, Semi Automatic Ground Environment System) was the Cold War network connecting IBM supplied computer system at the various DC and that created the display and control environment for operation of the separate radars and to provide outbound command guidance for ground-controlled interception by air defense aircraft in
16837-547: The radar data and systems' status (e.g., Arctic Tower radome pressure) and to use the range height equipment to process height requests from Direction Center (DC) personnel. DCs received the Long Range Radar Input from the sector's radar stations, and DC personnel monitored the radar tracks and IFF data provided by the stations, requested height-finder radar data on targets, and monitored the computer's evaluation of which fighter aircraft or Bomarc missile site could reach
16986-402: The radiation will not penetrate. Worried that the Soviets will do the same, Turgidson warns about a " mineshaft gap " while de Sadeski secretly photographs the War Room. Dr. Strangelove prepares to announce his plan for that when he suddenly stands up out of his wheelchair and exclaims, " Mein Führer , I can walk!" The movie ends with a montage of explosions set to " We'll Meet Again " signifying
17135-572: The role of General Buck Turgidson, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . In this capacity General Turgidson was the nation's highest-ranking military officer and the principal military adviser to the president and the National Security Council . He is seen during most of the movie advising President Muffley on the best steps to take in order to stop the fleet of B-52 Stratofortresses that
17284-432: The role straight, though the President's cold is still evident in several scenes. Dr. Strangelove is a scientist and former Nazi, suggesting Operation Paperclip , the US effort to recruit top German technical talent at the end of World War II. He serves as President Muffley's scientific adviser in the War Room. When General Turgidson wonders aloud to Mr. Staines ( Jack Creley ), what kind of name "Strangelove" is, possibly
17433-446: The same year, US Air Force staff were identifying specifically the requirement for the creation of automatic equipment for radar-detection which would relay information to an air defence control system, a system which would function without the inclusion of persons for its operation. The December 1949 "Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee" led by Dr. George Valley had recommended computerized networking for "radar stations guarding
17582-570: The scene "would have stayed, except that Columbia Pictures were horrified, and thought it would offend the president's family." Kubrick and others have said that the scene had already been cut before preview night because it was inconsistent with the rest of the film. In 1994, the film was re-released. While the 1964 release used a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the new print was in the slightly squarer 1.66:1 (5:3) ratio that Kubrick had originally intended. Dr. Strangelove ridicules nuclear war planning. It mocks numerous contemporary Cold War attitudes such as
17731-625: The situation because the US could launch a first strike and its population would largely survive a retaliatory second strike (see MAD § Theory ). To rebut early 1960s novels and Hollywood films like Fail-Safe and Dr. Strangelove , which raised questions about US control over nuclear weapons, the Air Force produced a documentary film, SAC Command Post , to demonstrate its responsiveness to presidential command and its tight control over nuclear weapons. However, later academic research into declassified documents showed that U.S. military commanders had been given presidentially authorized pre-delegation for
17880-483: The solid-state AN/GSG-5 CCCS instead of the AN/GPA-73 recommended by ADC in June 1958. Back-Up Interceptor Control (BUIC) with CCCS dispersed to radar stations for survivability allowed a diminished but functional SAGE capability. In 1962, Burroughs "won the contract to provide a military version of its D825" modular data processing system for BUIC II . BUIC II was first used at North Truro Z-10 in 1966, and
18029-406: The table would be covered with green baize (although this could not be seen in the black-and-white film) to reinforce the actors' impression that they are playing 'a game of poker for the fate of the world.' Kubrick asked Adam to build the set ceiling in concrete to force the director of photography to use only the on-set lights from the circle of lamps. Moreover, each lamp in the circle of lights
18178-414: The team calculated that the bomber would only need to do this for about 10% of its flight, making the fuel penalty acceptable. The only solution to this problem was to build a huge number of stations with overlapping coverage. At that point the problem became one of managing the information. Manual plotting was ruled out as too slow, and a computerized solution was the only possibility. To handle this task,
18327-439: The technical concept was proven. Forrester was invited to join the committee. With this successful demonstration, Louis Ridenour , chief scientist of the Air Force, wrote a memo stating "It is now apparent that the experimental work necessary to develop, test, and evaluate the systems proposals made by ADSEC will require a substantial amount of laboratory and field effort." Ridenour approached MIT President James Killian with
18476-645: The threat first. The DC's "NORAD sector commander's operational staff" could designate fighter intercept of a target or, using the Senior Director's keyed console in the Weapons Direction room, launch a Bomarc intercept with automatic Q-7 guidance of the surface-to-air missile to a final homing dive (equipped fighters eventually were automatically guided to intercepts). The "NORAD sector direction center (NSDC) [also had] air defense artillery director (ADAD) consoles [and an Army] ADA battle staff officer", and
18625-454: The uncontrollable hand that makes the gesture. Dr. Strangelove apparently has alien hand syndrome . Kubrick wore the gloves on the set to avoid being burned when handling hot lights, and Sellers, recognizing the potential connection to Lang's work, found them to be menacing. Slim Pickens , an established character actor and veteran of many Western films, was eventually chosen to replace Sellers as Major Kong after Sellers' injury. John Wayne
18774-711: The vacuum tube AN/FSQ-7 centrals. In 1966, NORAD Combined Operations Center operations at Chidlaw transferred to the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (425L System) and in December 1963, the DoD approved solid state replacement of Martin AN/FSG-1 centrals with the AN/GSG-5 and subsequent Hughes AN/TSQ-51 . The "416L/M/N Program Office" at Hanscom Field had deployed the BUIC III by 1971 (e.g., to Fallon NAS ), and
18923-484: The wrong timing of human and technical operations was leading to frequent truncation of the flight path tracking system " (Harold Sackman). SAGE software development was "grossly underestimated" (60,000 lines in September 1955): "the biggest mistake [of] the SAGE computer program was [underestimating the] jump from the 35,000 [WWI] instructions … to the more than 100,000 instructions on the" AN/FSQ-8. NORAD conducted
19072-521: Was "to provide a means for the orderly transition and phasing from the manual to the SAGE system." The plan identified deactivation of the Eastern , Central , and Western Region/Defense Forces on July 1, 1960, and "current manual boundaries" were to be moved to the new "eight SAGE divisions" (1 in Canada, "the 35th") as soon as possible. Manual divisions "not to get SAGE computers were to be phased out" along with their Manual Air Defense Control Centers at
19221-401: Was Major Kong on and off the set—he didn't change a thing—his temperament, his language, his behavior." Pickens was not told that the movie was a black comedy, and he was only given the script for scenes he was in to get him to play it "straight". Kubrick's biographer John Baxter explained, in the documentary Inside the Making of Dr. Strangelove : As it turns out, Slim Pickens had never left
19370-468: Was a little-known academic. The wheelchair-using Strangelove furthers a Kubrick trope of the menacing, seated antagonist, first depicted in Lolita through the character Dr. Zaempf. Strangelove's accent was influenced by that of Austrian-American photographer Weegee , who worked for Kubrick as a special photographic effects consultant. Strangelove's appearance echoes the mad scientist archetype as seen in
19519-844: Was activated January 1, 1958", and AT&T "hardened many of its switching centers, putting them in deep underground bunkers", The North American Defense Objectives Plan (NADOP 59–63) submitted to Canada in December 1958 scheduled 5 Direction Centers and 1 Combat Center to be complete in Fiscal Year 1959, 12 DCs and 3 CCs complete at the end of FY 60, 19 DC/4 CC FY 61, 25/6 FY 62, and 30/10 FY 63. On June 30 NORAD ordered that "Air Defense Sectors (SAGE) were to be designated as NORAD sectors", (the military reorganization had begun when effective April 1, 1958, CONAD "designated four SAGE sectors – New York, Boston, Syracuse, and Washington – as CONAD Sectors".) SAGE Geographic Reorganization: The SAGE Geographic Reorganization Plan of July 25, 1958, by NORAD
19668-467: Was already set ... which of course meant a big commitment in terms of money. I was set, Walter [Bernstein, the screenwriter] was set ... And suddenly, this lawsuit arrived, filed by Stanley Kubrick and Columbia Pictures." Kubrick argued that Fail Safe ' s own source novel Fail-Safe (1962) had been plagiarized from Peter George's Red Alert , to which Kubrick owned creative rights. He pointed out unmistakable similarities in intentions between
19817-524: Was also nominated for seven BAFTA Film Awards , winning Best Film From Any Source , Best British Film , and Best Art Direction (Black and White) , and it also won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation . United States Air Force Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, orders his executive officer , Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (an exchange officer from
19966-554: Was briefly employed ... to do some additional rewriting for Kubrick and myself and fittingly received a screenplay credit in third place behind Mr. Kubrick and myself." Dr. Strangelove was filmed at Shepperton Studios , near London , as Sellers was in the middle of a divorce at the time and unable to leave England. The sets occupied three main sound stages : the Pentagon War Room, the B-52 Stratofortress bomber and
20115-417: Was carefully placed and tested until Kubrick was happy with the result. Lacking cooperation from the Pentagon in the making of the film, the set designers reconstructed the aircraft cockpit to the best of their ability by comparing the cockpit of a B-29 Superfortress and a single photograph of the cockpit of a B-52 and relating this to the geometry of the B-52's fuselage. The B-52 was state-of-the-art in
20264-506: Was completed in 1952 as a "manual air defense system" (e.g., NORAD / ADC used a " Plexiglas plotting board" at the Ent command center .) The Permanent System radar stations included 3 subsequent phases of deployments and by June 30, 1957, had 119 "Fixed CONUS" radars, 29 "Gap-filler low altitude" radars, and 23 control centers". At "the end of 1957, ADC operated 182 radar stations [and] 17 control centers … 32 [stations] had been added during
20413-461: Was deployed by Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper to drop nuclear bombs on Soviet soil. According to James Earl Jones, Kubrick tricked Scott into playing the role of Gen. Turgidson in a much more outlandish manner than Scott was comfortable doing. According to Jones, Kubrick talked Scott into doing absurd "practice" takes, which Kubrick told Scott would never be used, as a way to warm up for the "real" takes. According to Jones, Kubrick used these takes in
20562-623: Was developed by the Lincoln Laboratory's Digital Computer Laboratory and Division 6, working closely with IBM as the manufacturer. Each FSQ-7 actually consisted of two nearly identical computers operating in "duplex" for redundancy. The design used an improved version of the Whirlwind I magnetic core memory and was an extension of the Whirlwind II computer program, renamed AN/FSQ-7 in 1953 to comply with Air Force nomenclature. It has been suggested
20711-556: Was dismantled and sent to Boston's Computer Museum . In 1996, AN/FSQ-7 components were moved to Moffett Federal Airfield for storage and later moved to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California . The last AN/FSQ-7 centrals were demolished at McChord AFB (August 1983) and Luke AFB (February 1984). Decommissioned AN/FSQ-7 equipment was also used as science fiction cinema and TV series props (e.g., Voyage to
20860-588: Was dubbed to change "Dallas" to " Vegas ", since Dallas was where Kennedy was killed. The original reference to Dallas survives in the English audio of the French-subtitled version of the film. The assassination also serves as another possible reason that the pie-fight scene was cut. In the scene, after Muffley takes a pie in the face, General Turgidson exclaims: "Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has been struck down in his prime!" Editor Anthony Harvey stated that
21009-498: Was instrumental in directing the development of the key concept of an interception system during his work at Servomechanisms Laboratory of MIT. The concept of the system, according to the Lincoln Laboratory site was to "develop a digital computer that could receive vast quantities of data from multiple radars and perform real-time processing to produce targeting information for intercepting aircraft and missiles." The AN/FSQ-7
21158-490: Was necessary. Familiarization flights allowed SAGE weapons directors to fly on two-seat interceptors to observe GCI operations. Surface-to-air missile installations for CIM-10 Bomarc interceptors were displayed on SAGE consoles. Partially solid-state AN/FST-2B and later AN/FYQ-47 computers replaced the AN/FST-2, and sectors without AN/FSQ-7 centrals requiring a " weapon direction control device " for USAF air defense used
21307-415: Was not a serious concern, but it was clear the system would be of little use against jet-powered bombers flying at perhaps 600 miles per hour (970 km/h). The system was extremely expensive in manpower terms, requiring hundreds of telephone operators, plotters and trackers in addition to the radar operators. This was a serious drain on manpower, making it difficult to expand the network. The idea of using
21456-542: Was offered the role after Sellers was injured, but he never responded to Kubrick's offer. Dan Blocker of the Bonanza western television series was also approached to play the part, but according to Southern, Blocker's agent rejected the script as being "too pinko ". Kubrick then recruited Pickens, whom he knew from his brief involvement in a Marlon Brando western film project that was eventually filmed as One-Eyed Jacks . His fellow actor James Earl Jones recalls, "He
21605-659: Was provided. By the late 1960s EC-121 Warning Star aircraft based at Otis AFB MA and McClellan AFB CA provided radar tracks via automatic data link to the SAGE System. Civil Aeronautics Administration radars were at some stations (e.g., stations of the Joint Use Site System ), and the ARSR-1 Air Route Surveillance Radar rotation rate had to be modified "for SAGE [IFF/SIF] Modes III and IV " ("antenna gear box modification" for compatibility with FSQ-7 & FSG-1 centrals.) ADC aircraft such as
21754-584: Was sold by its board of directors to the Burroughs Corporation . In 1986, Burroughs merged with the Sperry Corporation to form Unisys , and SDC was folded into Unisys Defense Systems. In 1991, Unisys Defense Systems was renamed Paramax, a wholly owned subsidiary of Unisys, so that it could be spun off to reduce Unisys debt. In 1995, Unisys sold Paramax to the Loral Corporation , although
21903-450: Was supplied by the largest discrete component-based computer ever built, the AN/FSQ-7 , manufactured by IBM . Each SAGE Direction Center (DC) housed an FSQ-7 which occupied an entire floor, approximately 22,000 square feet (2,000 m ) not including supporting equipment. The FSQ-7 was actually two computers, "A" side and "B" side. Computer processing was switched from "A" side to "B" side on
22052-604: Was the first operational sector with TDDL). By the middle of 1960, AMC had determined that about 800,000 man-hours (involving 130 changes) would be required to bring the F-106 fleet to the point where it would be a valuable adjunct to the air defense system. Part of the work ( Project Broad Jump ) was accomplished by Sacramento Air Materiel Area . The remainder ( Project Wild Goose ) was done at ADC bases by roving AMC field assistance teams supported by ADC maintenance personnel. (cited by Volume I p. 271 & Schaffel p. 325) After
22201-458: Was to send all of the radar information to a central control station where operators collated the reports into single tracks , and then reported these tracks to the airbases, or sectors . The sectors used additional systems to track their own aircraft, plotting both on a single large map. Operators viewing the map could then see what direction their fighters would have to fly to approach their targets and relay that simply by telling them to fly along
#352647