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 near 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.

The 630th Radar Squadron in Houston sent a detachment to the FAA site in 1972 to operate an FPS-6 alongside the FAA FPS-66 which was then data tied into Southern Air Defense System (SADS) and designated site Z-241. Site Z-241 ceased operation about 1975.

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

History of Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site

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 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-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.

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

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 Air Force Base Radar Site AFS Major Equipment List
Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems
  • FPS-3
  • FPS-20A
  • FPS-91A
  • FPS-66A
  • FPS-4
  • FPS-6
  • FPS-6A
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.


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

Current Status

Abandoned in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.

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Location: San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas.

Maps & Images

Lat: 29.38803 Long: -98.63332

  • Multi Maps from ACME
  • Maps from Bing
  • Maps from Google
  • Elevation: .....'

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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