I am a trained radar operator from the 70’s
AN/TPQ-10 and AN/TYA-3
these were not fire control systems, they were long range monitoring (AN/TYA-3) and radar guided bombing (AN/TPQ-10)
the methods of control for the Q-10 would be similar, and this was 1950’s to 1960’s technology
a 4 pulse signal would be sent out, 4 separate signals out of the same antenna, 4 cones of a radar signal, where each of the 4 cones would intersect in the center
think of 4 circles that intersect in the center, think of the olympics symbol, instead of 5 circles, think of 4
I believe we called it a 4-pulse feedhorn array
once we aquired the aircraft on radar, we would move by handwheel, the direction of the radar, moving the radar antenna to face the signal return by moving the radar in it’s azimuth (left to right ) and then it’s elevation (up and down)
when the signal was centered on the intersection of the 4 pulse array, we would flick a switch and the radar would lock on to the aircraft.
the length of time it took for the pulse to generate and return, we would know the distance from the antenna, think of a hypotenuse of a triangle, using math to just measure that time difference between signal sent to signal return at the speed of light...
the radar would have electronic measurement of it’s elevation angle, so we would know how high it was pointed in the sky.
using a surveyor, would would program in the ground location by coordinates of where the radar was physically at and which end was north, what angle the base was pointed at, so the computer system would know which way was north and how the radar was oriented.
knowing where the radar was, and knowing where the aircraft was using the math of the radar return and distance and angle from the radar antenna (slant range, azimuth and elevation), we had a map and a display that would show where the aircraft was in the air.
we woould then direct it to the target, tell him what speed to fly at, what altitude and when to drop his bombs.
Isaac Newton would do the rest, the time of fall from an altitude is a simple physics problem for high school students, and the known speed the aircraf was flying at when it dropped its bombs, we directed it by voice vector to the target, told him when to drop his bombs to hit a target that the pilot was just flying over at the speed and altitude we told him to.
That would get a plane shot down nowadays, but here is my point:
radar systems are much more complicated today, not for the operator, but for the system of control. slewing the radar by azimuth to send out a signal to locate an aircraft might still be possible, but locking on to it using a multiple pulse feedhorn array, or whatever newer array, would be automatic now, controlled by digital systems, not tubes and contactors as my system did.
the training to run this system was 6 weeks, and I learned 2 other systems, the UYQ-3 and the TYA-3, running the radar TPQ-10 was not that hard, what was hard was monitoring and recording the degrees of error they were off the track and direction and recorded altitude and airspeed at the time of dropping their ordanance.
thatall means, a 20 year old Russian kid could have hit the switch.
he would have had a senior NCO as his boss, maybe a 27 year old guy, with a 28 or 30 year old officer being the one who most likely hit the launch button.
they would have had a 10 man unit who set up the radar, ran the electrical power and a/c cooling, drove the trucks to get there, a surveyor to locate the radar or use a GPS system instead. Most likely in this modern world, a gps system to locate the radar to within 3 feet so it knows where it is.
The radar would be sending signals out, receiving signals back, telling the radar where the aircraft is. The missile would be receiving correction signals to direct it’s flight to the target, all controlled by computer, and since the civilian airliner would be flying in a straight line, this would be an easy shootdown, all you would have to do it hit it 1/2 way of full capability of the warhead and that 777 would fall down go boom.
while a novice could not walk up and power this type of missile launcher, most likely each person who ran it was under 30
Most of the soldiers who ran Army ADA sites were in there teens and twenties. They’d all been to the school house at Bliss, though, and spent time learning how to operate the system. I agree with comments that doesn’t require a genius, but they don’t just hop on a missile system and start banging away at targets.