Wizard Program

The WIZARD Program was an April 1946 United States Army Air Forces (later USAF) weapon system project contracted to the University of Michigan’s Aeronautical Research Center to investigate the possibility of developing a supersonic missile capable of reaching 500,000 feet altitude" at "speeds of 4,000 to 5,000 MPH [with] a 50 percent kill probability against a V­2'' ("Missiles of the German A-4 type") for ballistic missile defense (cf. the differing CIM-10 Bomarc development for air defense.)  Wizard included a portion pertaining "to early warning radars, tracking and acquisition radars, communications links between the early warning radars and SAGE." [sic] On June 12, 1945, Maj Gen Morris R. Nelson identified the US could employ "an American version of CDS" (Comprehensive Display System, a British C2 system) for computerized air defense, and the "WIZARD 3 radar" was located on a hill in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In Spring 1947, a 5-10 ten year estimate was issued for the “long-range ground radar, long-range and highly accurate guidance systems and long­range radar seekers" needed for testing "any antimissile missile devised by General Electric or the University of Michigan." For bomber defenses, by April 10, 1953, the USAF decided "to cancel its support of the Michigan system"—the "Air Defense Integration System" (ADIS)—when ARDC planned to "finalize a production contract for the Lincoln Transition System" to provide the Semi Automatic Ground Environment.  Wizard missile research from 1955 until c. 1959 ended when the USAF "concluded that the proposed Wizard system, advocated as an alternative to Nike Zeus, was…not cost effective.''  The DoD's "Master Air Defense Plan" issued on June 19, 1959, "included a reduction in BOMARC squadrons, cancellation of plans to upgrade the interceptor force, and a new austere SAGE program. In addition, funds were deleted for gap-filler and frequency-agility radars.21 "