The AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central, referred to as the Q7 for short, was a computerized air defence command and control system.

It was used by the United States Air Force for ground-controlled interception as part of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment network during the Cold War.

[5] The AN/FSQ-7 used a total of 60,000 vacuum tubes[5] (49,000 in the computers)[4]: 9  and up to 3 megawatts of electricity, performing about 75,000 instructions per second for networking regional radars.

Installations in the USAF Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense network were configured as duplex systems, using a pair of AN/FSQ-7 computers to provide fault tolerance.

[8] Also used in the Nike AN/FSG-1 system, ATABE automated the Whiz Wheel (Felsenthal CPU-73 A/P Air Navigation Attack Computer)[9] method used in manual command post operations.

[7]: 30–3  Later improvements allowed transmission of Q7 guidance to autopilots of manned fighters for vectoring to targets[12] via the SAGE Ground to Air Data Link Subsystem (cf.

The SAGE/Missile Master test program conducted large-scale field testing of the ATABE mathematical model using radar tracks of actual Strategic Air Command and Air Defense Command aircraft conducting mock penetrations into defense sectors[8] (cf.

The vacuum-tube SAGE network was completed (and obsolete) in 1963, and a system ergonomic test was performed at Luke Air Force Base in 1964.

According to Harold Sackman, it "showed conclusively that the wrong timing of human and technical operations was leading to frequent truncation of the flight path tracking system.

[24] Q7 components were used as props in numerous films and television series needing futuristic-looking computers, despite the fact they were built in the 1950s.

Q7 components were used in The Time Tunnel, The Towering Inferno, Logan's Run, WarGames, Independence Day, Planet of the Apes TV series (Season 1, Episode 5, "The Legacy" aired October 1974),[25] and many others.