Riverhead FAA Radar Site
Riverhead FAA Radar Site (1980-Active) - A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Long Range Radar (LRR) site first established in May 1980 near Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York. This site was originally the Ground-Air Transmitter (GAT) Site for the BOMARC Missile Annex at Suffolk County Air Force Base. The FAA site is used to identify and track military and civilian aircraft movements within a 200-mile radius and to provide air-ground radio communication with those aircraft. Assigned a SAGE System ID of Z-315, a JSS ID of J-52, and an FAA ID of QVH. Active FAA Radar Site. HistoryThis site became an FAA radar site in 1980, constructed on the former Ground-Air Transmitter (GAT) Site of the BOMARC Missile Annex at Suffolk County Air Force Base. The site was built to replace the closing [[Montauk Air Force Station (Z-45). The new site would furnish radar track data to the FAA ARTCCs and to USAF Direction Centers. News accounts indicate that the FAA site had a projected commissioning date in December 1980 but that Montauk would continue operations until 31 Jan 1981 and that is when the radar at Montauk shut down, 7 pm, 31 Jan 1981. Initial equipment included ARSR-3 search radar and that set remained in operation until it was replaced by a ARSR-4 3D radar between 1996-1999. The Air Force operated an FPS-116 height finder on the site between 1980 and 1988.
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