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AN/TPQ-10 Radar Course Directing Central
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<p>The <a href="/facts/General_Electric/bBm5CzVY">General Electric</a> AN/TPQ-10 Course Directing Central was a light-weight, two-unit, helicopter transportable, ground based bombing system developed for use by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Marine_Corps/J8JDlJG2">United States Marine Corps</a> to provide highly accurate, day/night all weather <a href="/facts/Close_air_support/buqaXGIp">close air support</a>. This self-contained system was designed to guide an aircraft, equipped with the proper control equipment, to a release point for accurate all-weather delivery of ordnance and supplies to a preselected target. The AN/TPQ-10 and its operators were known as an ‘’Air Support Radar Team’’ (ASRT) and were employed by the <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_Marine_Corps_air_support_squadrons/6nJpVmu2">Marine Air Support Squadrons</a> within the <a href="/facts/Aviation_Combat_Element/q3wMGv6o">Aviation Combat Element</a>. </p><p>The system was originally fielded in the early 1960s to replace the MPQ-14 Course Directing Central radar which was first utilized during the <a href="/facts/Korean_War/Qo93pNhE">Korean War</a>. The AN/TPQ-10 saw extensive use during the <a href="/facts/Vietnam_War/W0gfbGTE">Vietnam War</a> supporting Marine Forces in the <a href="/facts/I_Corps_(South_Vietnam)/pK0eLmJj">I Corps Tactical Zone</a> from 1965 through 1971, most famously to great effect during the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh/Hgqj4GLc">Battle of Khe Sanh</a> in early 1968. It remained a mainstay of Marine Corps close air support tactics until it was phased out of the inventory in the early 1990s after the <a href="/facts/Gulf_War/6LdLnGdo">Gulf War</a>. Improved <a href="/facts/Avionics/F4gQJBJn">avionics</a> in military aircraft and the emerging use of <a href="/facts/Global_Positioning_System/DKVLnzF3">satellite based navigation systems</a> had quickly made the AN/TPQ-10 redundant and obsolete. </p><p>In accordance with the <a href="/facts/Joint_Electronics_Type_Designation_System/FPkgSDUc">Joint Electronics Type Designation System</a> (JETDS), the "<i>AN/TPQ-10</i>" designation represents the 10th design of an Army-Navy <a href="/facts/Electronics/E4JhgISq">electronic device</a> for ground transportable special combination radar system. The JETDS system also now is used to name all <a href="/facts/Department_of_Defense/8RYhsb7g">Department of Defense</a> electronic systems. </p>