"New
Radar Warning Line will scan Arctic skies
Distant Early Warning Line for defense
now being built by Bell Telephone System
Far up in the frozen north – clear across
the top of North America – there’s a new air-raid warning line under
construction.
It is being built by Bell System
research, manufacturing and operating specialists at the request of the
United States and Canadian governments.
It is a vital and challenging task. Much
of the electronic equipment has had to be specially developed. All of the
equipment, materials, food, fuel and personnel have to be transported
thousands of miles by land, sea and air to the trackless wastes of the
Arctic. Years of work are being crammed into months of time.
The design and development of equipment
for the warning line is the work of Bell Telephone Laboratories, the Lincoln
Laboratory at M.I.T. and Canadian scientists.
Western Electric, the Bell System’s
manufacturing and supply unit, did the planning, engineering and
construction of a preliminary pilot project. It is now doing the same
over-all job of the new extended line from Alaska across northern Canada, in
close co-operation with defense forces and other governmental departments.
The Bell System’s ability to meet
emergencies of this kind when called upon by the Government is made possible
by its research, manufacturing and operation units working together as a
team.
The DEW line is one of many projects in
which this teamwork is helping in defense."
