Kalispell Air Force Station
Kalispell Air Force Station (1961-1978) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station first established in 1961 near present day Lakeside, Flathead County , Montana. Named Kalispell Air Force Station after the town of Kalispell. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-179 and later a Sage ID of Z-179. The site became an FAA operated JSS site in 1978 with a JSS ID of J-78.
History of Kalispell Air Force Station
Established in 1961 as Kalispell Air Force Station manned by the 716th AC&W Squadron.
Initial equipment included the FPS-7 search radar, two FPS-90 height finder radar sets and the FST-2 coordinate data transmitter. The FST-2 equipment digitized the radar returns and transmitted the digital returns to the SAGE direction center.
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 airconditioning, 43.5 kva of prime power and an usually a large 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 1960, initially feeding the direction center DC-19 at Minot AFB. With the closure of DC-19 in 1963 Kalispell was connected to the DC-20 direction center at Malstrom AFB.
Initially Kalispell AFS was not slated to support any remote gap filler radar sites. Gap filler sites were usually placed in locations where the main search radar lacked coverage. With the closure of Yaak Air Force Station in 1960 responsibility for the maintenance of their gap filler radar site at Eureka, Montana shifted to Kalispell AFS. The Yaak AFS site itself became an unattended gap filler site also the responsibility of Kalispell AFS.
These sites sent digitized radar target data directly to a direction center. Maintenance teams were dispatched from Kalispell AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems.
The physical plant of Kalispell AFS was divided into an upper operations site on Blacktail Mountain and a lower cantonment area in the present day community of Lakeside. The cantonment area included the housing, administrative and support facilities for the troops and a 27 unit housing area. The upper site housed the operations buildings, radar equipment and towers. A 15 mile access road connected the two areas.
Kalispell AFS and the 716th Radar Squadron were deactivated on 1 Apr 1978 and the facilities turned over to the FAA. The radar site then became joint use JSS site J-78 feeding radar data to FAA and USAF sites. A small team of USAF technicians remained as an operating location to maintain certain pieces of equipment.
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| ADC | NORAD | Location | State | Type | From | To | GPS | Notes |
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| TM-179B | Z-179B | Yaak AFS | Montana | FPS-14, FST-1 | 1958 | 1960 | 48.861667, -115.7225 |
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| TM-179C | Z-179C | Eureka | Montana | 48.864722, -115.125556 |
Current Status
JSS Site J-78, Lakeside, Flathead County , Montana.
USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2741925
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Location: Lakeside, Flathead County , Montana. Maps & Images Lat: 48.01139 Long: -114.36472 |
See Also:
Sources:
- 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
- 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
Links:
- North American Forts - Kalispell Air Force Station
- Radomes - Kalispell Air Force Station
- Wikipedia - Kalispell Air Force Station
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