Ground-controlled interception
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Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is a technique whereby one or more radar stations are linked to a command center with communications equipment in order to launch and/or guide aircraft to intercept incoming airborne threats. This technique was pioneered during World War II by the British, although the Germans eventually built a successful system also, later in the war. GCI is still important today, although nations that can afford it find AWACS, with or without support from GCI, to be more powerful and flexible.
In the original British system, information from the various radar stations was relayed via phone to a number of operators on the "ground floor" of the interception direction room. They used the information to move markers on a large map, representing both the enemy and friendly aircraft. Radio operators were located on a balcony overlooking the map, and relayed instructions directly to a particular squadron, or more typically, a remotely located station relaying information to a group of aircraft. Above them were status boards, consisting of a series of lights showing the current status of a particular squadron, on the ground, in battle, returning, etc. Overall direction of the battle was directed by commanders who thus had "instant access" to a picture of the battle as a whole.
During World War II, airborne radars were so primitive that the defending aircraft needed to close to within what would be easily visual distance during daytime. GCI was often used to vector the defending night fighters very close to the intruders and they then crept up on the often unsuspecting aircraft. GCI and night fighters eventually made night sorties over western Europe significantly more risky for bomber crews than they were at the beginning of the war (when they had relative impunity).
More recently, in both the Korea and Vietnam wars the communist forces (North Korea and North Vietnam) had important GCI systems which helped them harass the opposing forces (although in both cases due to the superiority in the number of US planes the effect was eventually minimised). GCI was important to the US and allied forces during these conflicts also, although not so much as for their opponents.
The most advanced GCI system deployed to date was the US's SAGE system. SAGE used massive computers to combine reports sent in via teletype from the Pinetree Line and other radar networks to produce a picture of all of the air traffic in a particular "sector"s area. The information was then displayed on terminals in the building, allowing operators to pick defensive assets (fighters and missiles) to be directed onto the target simply by selecting them on the terminal. Messages would then automatically be routed back out via teletype with instructions on them.
The system was later upgraded to relay directional information directly to the autopilots of the interceptor aircraft like the F-106 Delta Dart. The pilot was tasked primarily with getting the aircraft into the air (and back), and then flying in a parking orbit until called for. When an interception mission started, the SAGE computers automatically flew the plane into range of the target, allowing the pilot to concentrate solely on operating the complex onboard radar.
GCI is typically augmented with the presence of extremely large early warning radar arrays, which could alert GCI to inbound hostile aircraft hours before they arrive, giving enough time to prepare and launch aircraft and set them up for an intercept either using their own radars or with the assistance of regular radar stations once the bogeys approach their coverage. An example of this type of system is Australia's Jindalee over-the-horizon radar. Such radars typically operate by bouncing their signal off layers in the atmosphere.
In more recent years, GCI has been supplanted, or replaced outright, with the introduction of AWACS. AWACS tends to be superior in that, being airborne and being able to look down, it can see targets fairly far away at low level, as long as it can pick them out from the ground clutter. AWACS aircraft are extremely expensive, however, and generally require aircraft to be dedicated to protecting them. A combination of both techniques is really ideal, but GCI is typically only available in the defence of one's homeland, rather than in expeditionary types of battles.
The strengths of GCI are that it can cover far more airspace than AWACS without costing as much and areas that otherwise would be blind-spots for AWACS can be covered by cleverly placed radar stations. AWACS also relies on aircraft which may require defence and a few aircraft are more vulnerable than many ground-based radar stations. If a single AWACS aircraft is shot down or otherwise taken out of the picture, there will be a serious gap in air defence until another can replace it, where in the case of GCI, many radar stations would have to be taken off the air before it became a serious problem (although a strike on the command center(s) could be very serious indeed).
Either GCI or AWACS can be used to give defending aircraft a major advantage during the actual interception by allowing them to sneak up on enemy aircraft without giving themselves away by using their own radar sets. Typically, to perform an interception by themselves beyond visual range, the aircraft would have to search the sky for intruders with their radars, the energy from which might be noticed by the intruder's Radar warning receiver (RWR) electronics, thus alerting the intruders that they may be coming under attack. With GCI or AWACS, the defending aircraft can be vectored to an interception course, perhaps sliding in on the intruder's tail position without being noticed, firing passive homing missiles and then turning away. This greatly increases the defender's chance of success and survival. Alternatively, they could be guided to an interception course and then GCI or AWACS can notify them of the best time to turn their radars on and give them a vector to the intruders, so that they can get a radar lock and fire their missiles without giving any warning.
