About ColdWar.tech

Image of what is likely a 139th Airlift Squadron C-130D (the D added when a C-130 was equiped with skis) servicing DYE-2 (Iceland). The C-130D indicates this photo was likely taken after 1975. This image was AI enhanced with Topaz Photo AI. The original image was posted to radomes.org (live, archive) with photo credit given to Ski Greenland (offline, archive).

Welcome to the Cold War Technology blog! Our mission is to delve deep into the technology of the Cold War era and provide our readers with in-depth and accurate information about the tools and systems used during this historic time period.

We know that there is a wealth of information available online about the Cold War, but much of it is surface level and doesn't delve into the specifics of the technology used. Our goal is to change that by providing detailed and technical explanations of the various radar systems, intelligence tools, defense systems, and other technological advancements that played a crucial role in the Cold War.

From the microwave revolution to early warning radar, we will cover a wide range of technology used during the Cold War. We will also explore the history and development of these systems, as well as their impact on the political and military landscape of the time.

Whether you are a history buff, a technology enthusiast, or simply interested in learning more about this fascinating era, we hope you will join us on this journey through Cold War technology.

A large horn antenna that's appears on its side with two men standing beneath it. Visually the antenna looks to be about 3 men high and 10 men long. It's a Black and White photo. — The 15 meter Holmdel horn antenna at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey was built in 1959. This image is a restored version of the Public Domain version provided by the US Government, the restored version is provided by Wikipedia Commons.

A Word About Sources

The materials on this website pull from many sources, some of which are sadly no longer online. Wherever possible the sources used for a post will be provided in the footer with an Wayback machine link in cases where the original content is no longer online.

Some of the areas discussed will only have sources that are first-hand accounts posted online and are hard to independantly verify. If you see something that looks wrong, or you'd be willing to provide some additional context or detail please reach out.

Images from the era are often hard to come by in high quality. The media seen here will often come from official government sources, the private albums of service members and contractors, and modern day adventurers taking photos of closed-down sites. Like with other sources, the original creators and source will be linked for each image wherever known.

Images and video may also have been enhanced by correcting color and lightly, as well as by applying AI upscaling and detail recovery. Tools commonly used for this process are PixelMator Pro and Topaz's suite of AI tools. When these tools are used a link to view the unedited original will be provided as a footnote.

If you have additional or better quality images of the topics we discuss here to share please reach out. We will assist and cover costs related to the digitization of film. Conversely, if you have concerns about media we've used (misattribution or you're the original creator and wish for the media to be removed) please reach out and we'd be happy to address the concern.