Gun data computer

The gun data computer was a series of artillery computers used by the U.S. Army for coastal artillery, field artillery and anti-aircraft artillery applications. For antiaircraft applications they were used in conjunction with a director computer. M1: This was used by seacoast artillery for major-caliber seacoast guns. It computed continuous firing data for a battery of two guns that were separated by not more than . It utilised the same type of input data furnished by a range section with the then-current (1940) types of position-finding and fire-control equipment. M3: This was used in conjunction with the M9 and M10 directors to compute all required firing data, i.e. azimuth, elevation and fuze time. The computations were made continuously, so that the gun was at all times correctly pointed and the fuze correctly timed for firing at any instant. The computer was mounted in the M13 or M14 director trailer. M4: This was identical to the M3 except for some mechanisms and parts which were altered to allow for different ammunition being used. M8: This was an electronic computer (using vacuum tube technology) built by Bell Labs and used by coast artillery with medium-caliber guns (up to ). It made the following corrections: wind, drift, earth's rotation, muzzle velocity, air density, height of site and spot corrections. M9: This was identical to the M8 except for some mechanisms and parts which were altered to accommodate anti-aircraft ammunition and guns. M10: A ballistics computer, part of the M38 fire control system, for Skysweeper anti-aircraft guns. M13: A ballistics computer for M48 tanks. M14: A ballistics computer for M103 heavy tanks. M15: A part of the M35 field artillery fire-control system, which included the M1 gunnery officer console and M27 power supply. M16: A ballistics computer for M60A1 tanks. M18: FADAC (Field Artillery Digital Automatic Computer), an all-transistorized general-purpose digital computer manufactured by Amelco (Teledyne Systems, Inc.,) and North American—Autonetics.