Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site

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Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site (1952-1969) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1952 on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-75 and later a Sage ID of Z-75. Abandoned as an Air Force Radar Site in 1969 and operated after that by the FAA.

Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site. All that Remains, Power Bldg. Center, Radio Bldg. Back Left.

History

Established in 1952 and became operational in 1952 as Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site manned by the 741st AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning mission. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifying 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 FPS-3 search radar and an FPS-4 height-finder radar. The single FPS-4 height-finder radar was replaced by two FPS-6 sets in 1958. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-20A and the site radar data was being shared with the FAA.

The Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site and the 741st were deactivated on 31 Dec 1969 and the FAA took over operation of the site.

Lackland FAA Radar Site

The FAA continued to operate a reduced site with the existing FPS-66A search radar feeding radar track data to the Houston ARTCC.

In 1972, the newly reactivated 630th Radar Squadron in Houston sent a detachment to the Lackland FAA site to operate an FPS-6 height-finder alongside the in place FPS-66A. The site then fed radar track data from both sets to the newly created Southern Air Defense Sector (SADS) manual direction center that was colocated with the Houston ARTCC. See the Houston ARTCC for background information regarding the events that triggered the creation of the Southern Air Defense Sector and direction center. The site was then given a SAGE System designation of Z-241.

The FAA stopped using the site search radar data about 2001 and relied on just beacon data until 2011 when all operations ceased and the site was abandoned.

Gap Filler Radar Sites

In 1960 the Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site 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 the Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. The Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site gap-filler radar was located at Mason, Texas.


Lackland AFB Gap Filler Radar Sites (edit list)
ADC NORAD Location State Type From To GPS Notes
P-75A Z-75A Mason TX FPS-18, FST-1 1960 1960 30.562444,
-99.447241


Lackland AFB Radar Site AFS Major Equipment List
Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems
Unit Designations
  • 741st Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1952-1969)
741st Assignments
  • 1 Feb 1953 activated at Lackland AFB, TX, as the 33rd Air Division.
  • 1 Jan 60 transferred to Oklahoma City ADS.
  • 1 Sep 1961 transferred to 4752nd Air Defense Wing.
  • 25 Jun 1963 transferred to Oklahoma City ADS.
  • 1 Apr 1966 reassigned to 31st Air Division.
  • 31 Dec 1969 inactivated.

Current Status

The Air Force site closed in 1969 and the last vestiges of FAA operations ended in 2010. The radome and support buildings have been removed except for two small buildings, the radio building and the power building.

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Location: Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas.

Maps & Images

Lat: 29.38803 Long: -98.63332


GPS Locations:

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 100.
  • 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 156.

Links:

Visited: 20 May 2015


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