Fort Fisher Air Force Station
Fort Fisher Air Force Station (1955-1988) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1955 near Kure Beach, New Hanover County, North Carolina. Named Fort Fisher Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of M-115 and later a Sage ID of Z-115. Abandoned in 1988.
History of Fort Fisher Air Force Station
Established on 1 Aug 1955 and became operational in 1955 as Fort Fisher Air Force Station manned by the 701st 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 MPS-7 search radar and an MPS-8 height finder radar.
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 1961 initially feeding the Fort Lee SAGE Direction Center DC-04. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-7C and an FPS-26A height finder radar was installed. The FPS-26A later became an FSS-7 SLBM detecting radar operated by Det 5, 14 MWS. The FPS-7C was later modified to become an FPS-107V
Fort Fisher AFS was responsible for the maintenance of three 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 Fort Fisher AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. The Fort Fisher AFS gap filler radars were located at Myrtle Beach SC, Fort Bragg NC and Holly Ridge NC.
Fort Fisher AFS became a BUIC I GCI site on 15 Jan 1963. It was selected as a BUIC III site and became the first operational BUIC III site. In 1970 the 701st Radar Squadron (SAGE) became the 701st 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. Fort Fisher AFS and the 701st were deactivated on 30 Jun 1988.
The physical plant of the site was divided into a main site, a cantonment area, a housing area and a radio site. The main site housed the operations buildings, the radar towers, and the backup generators. The cantonment area housed the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, the dining hall, the motor pool, a post exchange, a small commissary and other support buildings. Apart from the main site was a small 27 unit housing area for critical married personnel and an adjacent 23 unit trailer park. There were also some 26 leased government quarters in Wilmington and Carolina Beach. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. The GATR site is now the location of the FAA ARSR-4 radar.
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| ADC | NORAD | Location | State | Type | From | To | GPS | Notes |
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| M-115A | Z-115A | Myrtle Beach | SC | FPS-14, FST-1 | 1958 | 1968 | 33.76972, -78.78889 |
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| M-115B | Z-115B | Fort Bragg | NC | FPS-18, FST-1 | 1959 | 1968 | 35.14514, -79.07083 |
Building exists Tower exists |
| M-115C | Z-115C | Holly Ridge | NC | FPS-14, FST-1 | 1959 | 1968 | 34.51403, -77.53569 |
Building exists Tower gone |
Current Status
Abandoned as a radar site and now part of the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area and historic site in Kure Beach, New Hanover County, North Carolina.
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Location: Kure Beach, New Hanover County, North Carolina. Maps & Images Lat: 33.99 Long: -77.91833 |
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 86, 162.
- 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 144.
- NORAD/CONAD Historical Summary Jan-Dec 1966, dated 1 May 1967, Command History Division, HQ NORAD/CONAD, Unclassified (originally classified Secret), pdf, pages 28-31, Backup Intercept Control Systems
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