Highlands Air Force Station: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:32, 25 November 2015

Highlands Air Force Station (1948-1966) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1948 near Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Named Highlands Air Force Station after the location on 1 Dec 1953. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-09 and later a Sage ID of Z-09. Abandoned in 1966.

History of Highlands Air Force Station

Established in 1948 and became operational that year as Highlands Air Force Station manned by the 646th 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 two CPS-6 radar sets.

GPA-37 Analog Flight Control System

In 1957 Highlands AFS received the first operational GPA-37 Analog Flight Control System as a prelude to the SAGE System becoming operational. The GPA-37 was capable of directly controlling supersonic aircraft (F-106) and supersonic air breathing missiles (BOMARC) using time division data link (TDDL) to the airborne guidance systems. The GPA-37 was also capable of interfacing with the NIKE missile system.

In preparation for the SAGE System an FPS-6 height-finder radar was installed and the site was slated to receive the first FPS-7C search radar but that installation was delayed until September 1959.

SAGE Transition

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 in July 1958 initially feeding the McGuire SAGE Direction Center DC-01. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-7C in September 1959 and an FPS-6B height finder radar was added in 1960. By 1963 the site was operating a FPS-7C search radar, a FPS-90 height finder and a FPS-26A height finder. This was the configuration when the Air Force Station closed in 1966.

Highlands AFS Major Equipment List
Search Radar	HF Radar	Data Systems
CPS-6B GPS-3 FPS-8 FPS-7C	FPS-6 FPS-6A FPS-90 FPS-26A	GPA-37 FST-2/A/B

Unit Designations
646th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1948-1958) 646th Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1958-1966)

646th Assignments
1 Jan 1951 - Assigned at Navesink, NJ, assigned to the 503rd AC§W Gp. 6 Feb 1952 - Transferred to the 26th AD. 16 Feb 1953 - Transferred to the 4709th Def Wg. 1 Dec 1953 - Site redesignated to Highlands AFS, NJ. 18 Oct 1956 - Transferred to 4621st AD Wg. 8 Jan 1957 - Transferred to NY ADS. 1 Oct 1958 - Redesignated the 646th Radar Sq (SAGE). 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to the 21st AD. 1 Jul 1966 - Discontinued.

Current Status

Abandoned in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

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Location: Middletown Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Maps & Images

Lat: 40.39139 Long: -73.99389

Multi Maps from ACME
Maps from Bing
Maps from Google
Elevation: 213'

See Also:

Sources:

Cornett, Lloyd H. & Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization (1946-1980), Office of History ADC, Peterson AFB, Colorado, 31 Dec 1980, 179 pages, Pdf, page 156.
Winkler, David F., Searching the Skies: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, USAF Hq Air Combat Command, 1997, 192 pages, Pdf, page 33, 137.
USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2087766

Links:

Visited: No

Highlands Military Reservation

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 == U.S. Army Nike Missile Master ==
--->
+The U.S. Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) designated NY-55DC at Highlands directed the Nike units in the New York Defense Area, replacing the manual operations center at [[Fort Wadsworth]] on Staten Island. The Missile Master installation was built on the Highlands Air Force Station adjacent to the operations building and included the Missile Master building (aka nuclear bunker), four radar towers, a diesel power plant and electrical switch building. Initial Army equipment included the [[FSG-1]] Missile Master System and one each [[FPS-6]] and [[FPS-90]] height-finders. Construction began 10 Jul 1958 and the Missile Master was accepted in May 1960 and operated through 30 Nov 1966. The [[FSG-1]] Missile Master was replaced with the [[TSQ-51]] Missile Mentor System in 1966 and that system was purportedly replaced by a [[GSG-5]] BIRDIE system by 1 Jul 1972. AADCP operations ended in April 1974 with the closure of the region's remaining Nike fire units.
+* NY-55DC - Highlands, NJ.
+* NY-03 - Orangeburg, NY.
+* NY-04 - Mount Nebo, NY.
+* NY-24 - Amityville/Farmingdale, NY.
+* NY-49 - Fort Tilden, NY.
+* NY-79 - Livingston, NJ.
+* NY-80 - Livingston, NJ.
+* PH-23 - Lumberton, NJ.
+* PH-25 - Lumberton, NJ.
+* PH-41 - Erial, NJ.
+* PH-43 - Erial, NJ.
+* PH-58 - Woolwich Twp, NJ.
+The Highlands Army Air Defense Site was decommissioned on 31 Oct 1974 and the Highlands Missile Master building was demolished in 1995.
 == [[Texas Tower 4]] ==