Surface armament subseries are images primarily related to radar, target and guidance tracking. There are images of components of the Nike Zeus (anti-ballistic missile), and military aircraft the T-38 and T-41. This subseries dates from 1947 to 1964. There are a few films in this subseries which contain footage related to fleet ballistic missiles, the Nike-Zeus missile, the Talos missile, Polaris missile, FPS-35 Radar and T-38 director.

Throughout the subseries many folders are titled with “AN/” followed by a series of letters and numbers. The United States military use letter combinations to designate electronic and communications equipment. This designation system is called the "Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System" or “AN” for short (Army-Navy). All designations have the “AN/” prefix followed by three letters, a number, and potentially followed by another single letter and a version. The letters in different positions signify the installation, equipment type, and purpose.