The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)
OPERATION ALLIED FORCE
603rd Air Control Squadron
In the European Theater, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe operates a Theater Air Control System in support of North Atlantic Treaty Organization ground forces. The 603rd Air Control Squadron is one of the TACS elements which aligned under the 31st FW in April 1994. The 603rd is given the responsibility of exercising decentralized command and control of air resources in the event of periods of hostility accompanied by loss of communications. The specified mission of the 603rd ACS is to operate a mobile unit capable of providing radar control and surveillance within a designated area, to collect, display, and disseminate information of aerial activity and to provide radar coverage for the control of air forces. The squadron is further tasked to provide radar control for friendly aircraft in an offensive role against ground targets, and in a defensive mission against airborne threats.
The main operations equipment used by the 603rd ACS is the Modular Control Equipment. The MCE provides facilities for: accepting inputs from search radar and Identification Friend from Foe systems, and performing automatic track correlation, acquisition, identification, classification, tracking, threat evaluation and weapon detection and assignment. (update July 1996)
(Aeromedia, May 1999)