Keno Air Force Station
Keno Air Force Station (1958-1979) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1958 near Keno, Klamath County, Oregon. Named Keno Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-180 and later a Sage ID of Z-180. Abandoned in 1979.
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History of Keno Air Force Station
Established in 1958 and became operational in September 1958 as Keno Air Force Station manned by the 827th AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning misssion. The early warnng 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 the FPS-20A search radar and two FPS-6A height finder radars.
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 June 1960 initially feeding the Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-67B and an FPS-90 height finder radar replaced one of the FPS-6A radars.
Keno AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap filler radar sites. 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 Keno AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. The gap fillers that Keno was responsible for were located at Yreka, California and La Pine, Oregon. The La Pine site never activate because the radar tower blew down in the winter of 1959.
Keno AFS was selected as a BUIC III site and in 1970 the 827th Radar Squadron (SAGE) became the 827th Air Defense Group (BUIC). The BUIC III system provided a backup for a SAGE direction center and provided the ability to display sector wide radar data on consoles for local weapons controllers. The system duplicated the functionality of the vacuum tube direction center computers with more up-to-date computers and replaced the FST-2 with a more up-to-date coordinate data transmitter, the FYQ-47. As the threat from a soviet bomber fleet lessened the decision came to mothball the BUIC system in 1974. Keno AFS and the 827th were deactivated 30 Jun 1975.
Keno AFS and the 827th were deactivated on 1979.
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| ADC | NORAD | Location | State | Type | From | To | GPS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TM-180A | Z-180A | Yreka | CA | FPS-18, FST-1 | 1959 | 1960 | 41.738333, -122.776667 |
Current Status
Abandoned in Keno, Klamath County, Oregon.
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Location: Keno, Klamath County, Oregon. Maps & Images Lat: 42.06889 Long: -121.97222 |
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, page 150
- 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 86, 171
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