Fallon Air Force Station: Difference between revisions
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'''See Also:''' | '''See Also:''' | ||
[[SAGE System]] | * [[SAGE System]] | ||
[[BUIC System]] | * [[BUIC System]] | ||
[[JSS System]] | * [[JSS System]] | ||
[[Permanent System Radar Sites]] | * [[Permanent System Radar Sites]] | ||
'''Sources:''' | '''Sources:''' | ||
Revision as of 17:01, 25 September 2015
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Fallon Air Force Station (1956-1975) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1956 on Fallon Naval Air Station, Churchill County, Nevada. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of SM-156 and later a Sage ID of Z-156. Abandoned as an Air Force Station in 1975 and now operated by the FAA as Fallon NAS FAA Radar Site.
History of Fallon Air Force Station Established in 1956 and became operational in May 1956 as Fallon Air Force Station manned by the 858th AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning misssion. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifing all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any identified enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course and speed to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio. Initial equipment included the MPS-7 search radar and an MPS-14 height finder radar. The transition of the manual GCI system to the automated SAGE system began with the installation of the FST-2 coordinate data transmitter and search radar upgrades. The FST-2 equipment digitized the radar returns and transmitted the digital returns to the SAGE direction center. Under the SAGE System, interceptor aircraft were directed to their targets by the direction center computers and controllers, greatly reducing the need for local controllers and equipment at every radar station. The FST-2 was a very large digital system using vacuum tube technology. Over 6900 vacuum tubes were used in each FST-2 requiring 21 air-conditioned cabinets, 40 tons of air conditioning, 43.5 kva of prime power, and usually a large new addition to the operations building. The FST-2B modification added two more cabinets but with newer solid-state (transistor) technology to process coded responses from aircraft transponders. The site began operation as a SAGE site 1n 1962 initially feeding the direction center DC-16 at Stead AFB, Nevada. The search radar was briefly upgraded to an FPS-3 and then to an FPS-35 in 1963 when the site was moved to the southwest corner of Fallon Naval Air Station. FPS-6 height finders were installed by 1964. The FPS-35 search radar was replaced with an FPS-66A search radar in the early 1970s. The FPS-66A antenna has a much smaller footprint on the old FPS-35 tower and it is covered with a radome. Around 1965 the the site became a joint use (FAA/ADC) site. Fallon AFS was responsible for the maintenance of one remote unattended gap filler radar site. The gap filler sites were placed in locations where the main search radar lacked coverage. These sites sent digitized radar target data directly to a direction center. Maintenance teams were dispatched from Fallon AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. The Fallon FPS-18 gap filler site was located at Gabbs, Nevada. Fallon AFS was selected as a BUIC III site and in 1970 the 858th Radar Squadron (SAGE) became the 858th Air Defense Group (BUIC). The BUIC III system provided a backup for a SAGE direction center and provided the ability to display sector wide radar data on consoles for local weapons controllers. The system duplicated the functionality of the vacuum tube direction center computers with more up-to-date computers and replaced the FST-2 with a more up-to-date coordinate data transmitter, the FYQ-47. As the threat from a soviet bomber fleet lessened the decision came to mothball the BUIC system in 1974. Fallon AFS and the 858th were deactivated 30 Jun 1975. The operational site of 858th was first located on the south central part of NAS Fallon as a mobile radar facility. As fixed equipment became necessary for SAGE integration new radar facilities and an operations building was located about 1.25 miles west of the old site in southwest corner of the base. The physical plant included a separate Air Force Housing area, a squadron cantonment area, the main operations area and a separated GATR radio site.
Current StatusNow operated by the FAA as Fallon NAS FAA Radar Site a JSS data tied site on Fallon NAS, Churchill County, Nevada.
See Also: Sources:
Links: Visited: 19 Mar 2014
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