The Sergeant York gun: A massive misfire: The U.S. Department of Defense spent $1.9 billion on developing the computer-controlled, radar-directed air defense system before halting the program

Not all of the stories published about the Sergeant York automated air defense gun are necessarily true. One report, for example, said that during an exercise Feb. 4,1982, at Fort Bliss, N.M., the balky, tank-like gun swiveled its two-cannon turret toward nearby reviewing stands, sending scores of incredulous military brass scrambling for cover. Another time, according to news reports, the gun's Doppler radar mistook a whirling metal fan in a latrine at a test site for the rotating blades of an attack helicopter.