Early Advances in Radar Technology for Aircraft Detection

■ In its early years, Lincoln Laboratory developed critical components of an airdefense system to guard North America against the threat of intercontinental bombers carrying nuclear weapons. Lincoln Laboratory used digital computer technology to automate several functions of the air-defense system and improve the quality of digitized radar data processed by the air-defense system. This article describes some of the experimental and theoretical efforts that led to early advances in radar technology for aircraft detection.