Originally Posted by
tartare
Thanks for posting that Gums - really interesting.
It's intriguing that cold war special weapon carrying aircraft were automated for control from the ground to the degree that they were.
Vulcan people, correct me if I am wrong, but the Vulcan's weapons system basically allowed for bombing run and weapon release to be entirely automatic at a pre-programmed point - right?
So beyond a certain point the crew were basically just along for the ride until the weapon was released?
Not really. The Nav Radar had to identify the target or an offset aiming point on the radar and put cross hairs on it. If the right switches were made the autopilot could then fly towards the release point. Again, if the right switches were made the bomb doors would open and release would occur at the computed point, based on the Nav radar continually improving the aim.