Saglek Air Station

Saglek Air Station (1953-1993) - A Cold War Pinetree Line Canadian Forces Radar Station first established in 1953 near Saglek Fjord in Labrador as Saglek Air Station. Initially manned by the 924th AC&W Squadron and assigned an ID of N-29 that later became JSS ID LAB-2. Inactivated 30 Jun 1970, destroyed by fire in 1978, reconstructed as a North Warning System radar site in 1988 and transitioned to unattended status in 1995. Cold War Following 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. 924th Aircraft Warning Squadron Saglek AS was constructed 1951-1953 as a Pinetree Line radar site and became operational in the fall of 1953 manned by the 924th AC&W Squadron. This station initially had an Early Warning (EW) mission. The early warnng mission involved tracking and identifing all aircraft entering their airspace. Initial equipment included the FPS-3C search radar and an TPS-502 height finder radar. The search radar was later upgraded to an FPS-20A and then modified to an FPS-87A and finally modified to an FPS-93A. A TPS-502 height finder radar was installed but was later removed and the site. The radar equipment at Saglek Air Station was permanently shut down on 30 June 1970. The 924th Radar Squadron was deactivated on 31 Jul 1970 and the last personnel were sceduled to leave on 30 Sep 1970. The abandoned site was destroyed by fire in 1978. Reconstructed as a North Warning System radar site in 1988 and transitioned to unattended status on 22 September 1995. Saglek Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems FPS-3C FPS-502 FPS-20A FPS-87A FPS-93A FPS-117 TPS-502 Unit Designations 924th AC&W Squadron Assignments 13 Jun 53 Activated at Grenier Air Force Base, NH. fall of 1953 transferred to NEAC 1 Apr 1957 reassigned to ADC and 4732nd Air Defense Group. 1 Apr 1960 transferred to Goose ADS. 1 Apr 1966 transferred to 37th Air Division. 31 Mar 1970 reassigned to 21st Air Division. 31 Jul 1970 Inactivated. Current Status ...... {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: ppppp, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Maps & Images Lat: 58.48861 Long: -62.58556 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 1,800' See Also: Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets Pinetree Line Sources: Pinetree Line Buss, Lydus H., US Air Defense in the Northeast 1940-1957, Historical Reference Paper No. 1, Office of Information Services, HQ Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), Ent AFB, 1 Apr 1957. Links: Radomes - Saglek Air Station Pinetree Line - Saglek Wikipedia - CFS Saglek Visited: No