Hopedale Air Station
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Hopedale Air Station (1953-1968) - A Cold War Pinetree Line Radar Station operational in 1953 near Hopedale, Newfoundland and Labrador as Hopedale Air Station. Initially manned by the 923rd AC&W Squadron and assigned an ID of N-28. This station also served as the Mid Canada Line - Sector Control Station SCS 200. Closed in 1968. Cold WarFollowing the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 Jun 1950 and in response to a perceived Soviet bomber threat the United States Air Force (USAF) created the Northeast Air Command (NEAC), as a major command, to defend the Northeastern air approaches to the US. NEAC was responsible for all air defense forces in Newfoundland, Labrador, eastern Canada, and Greenland. The plan for the NEAC area included the construction of 10 permanent radar stations in Canada and 3 stations in Greenland, all as a part of the Pinetree Line. Of the 10 Canadian stations, 9 were to be manned by USAF personnel and one was to be manned by RCAF personnel The sites were selected and construction began in 1951-52. HistoryEstablished and constructed in 1951-1953 by the contractor, Fraser Brace Construction Company Moncton, New Brunswick. The site became operational in 1953 as Hopedale Air Station manned by the 923nd Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (USAF). The advanced party of USAF personnel arrived in June 1953. This site functioned for most of its life as a surveillance and ground-controlled intercept (GCI) site that identified aircraft entering their coverage and was prepared to guide armed interceptor aircraft to those it could not identify.
Initial equipment included the FPS-3C search radar and a TPS-502 height finder radar. The search radar was later upgraded to an FPS-20 and then to an FPS-93A. A TPS-502 height finder radar was installed and that was later replaced with two height finders, an FPS-6B and an FPS-90. The 923rd AC&W Squadron also operated a manned gap-filler radar site as a detachment, complete with operations personnel and a commanding officer (1957-1961). ClosureHopedale Air Station and the 923rd AC&W Squadron were deactivated on 18 Jun 1968. Polevault TroposcatterThe Polevault Troposcatter communications link at Hopedale was a heavy ground communications system that depended on bouncing radio waves off the troposphere for reliable long-distance communications circuits. Normal HF/LF and other radio links had proven unreliable and the Polevault system was implemented about 1954 to solve that problem. The Hopedale Polevault site provided tropo links with Saglek Air Station to the North and Goose AFB, to the South. The system then extended from Goose AFB to Cartwright AS and then to St. Anthony and down to Gander and then on to Red Cliff at St. John's. St. John's had cable communications with the US and it served as the southern terminus of the Polevault system. The Hopedale Polevault site also provided communications to the Cape Makkovik gap-filler radar site between 1957 and 1961. A teletype channel provided hard copy communications with Headquarters in Newfoundland and beyond. By 1961, Detachment 9 of the 1933rd Communications Squadron (AFCS), a support organization of the 923rd AC&W Squadron, operated and maintained the Hopedale Polevault site.
Current StatusFoundational remains, no buildings remain.
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- Newfoundland and Labrador All
- Newfoundland and Labrador Radar Sites
- Hopedale Air Station
- Newfoundland and Labrador Not Visited
- USAF Radar Sites
- Pinetree Line Radar Sites
- Mid Canada Line Radar Site
- Starter Page
- FPS-20
- FPS-6
- FPS-90
- FPS-14
- FST-1
- UPA-35
- UPX-6
- UPX 14
- GPX-7
- OA-947
- GPA-30
- GRT-3
- R-361
- GRC-27
- FRT-502
- FRT-503
- URG-60
- NE-612
- SSM-7
- TT-21
- TT-7
- M-19