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PAVE PAWS (
PAVE PAVE is a United States Air Force program identifier relating to electronic systems. Prior to 1979, Pave was said to be a code word for the Air Force unit responsible for the project. ''Pave'' was used as an inconsequential prefix identifier for ...
Phased Array Warning System) is a complex
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
early warning radar An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum t ...
and computer system developed in 1980 to "detect and characterize a sea-launched ballistic missile attack against the United States". With the first solid-state
phased array In antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled array of antennas which creates a beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving th ...
deployed, the system used a pair of Raytheon AN/FPS-115 phased array radar sets at each site to cover a wide azimuth angle of 240 degrees. Two sites were deployed in 1980 at the periphery of the contiguous United States, then two more in 1987–95, as part of the
United States Space Surveillance Network The United States Space Surveillance Network (SSN) detects, tracks, catalogs and identifies artificial objects orbiting Earth, e.g. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentation debris. The system is the responsibility of Uni ...
. One system was sold to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and is still in service.


Mission

The radar was built in the Cold War to give early warning of a nuclear attack, to allow time for US bombers to get off the ground and land-based US missiles to be launched, to decrease the chance that a
preemptive strike A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war ''shortly before'' that attack materializes. It ...
could destroy US strategic nuclear forces. The deployment of submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) by the Soviet Union by the 1970s, significantly decreased the warning time available between the detection of an incoming enemy missile and its reaching its target, because SLBMs can be launched closer to the US than the previous
ICBMs An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons ...
, which have a long flight path from the Soviet Union to the continental US. Thus there was a need for a radar system with faster reaction time than existing radars. PAVE PAWS later acquired a second mission of tracking satellites and other objects in Earth orbit as part of the
United States Space Surveillance Network The United States Space Surveillance Network (SSN) detects, tracks, catalogs and identifies artificial objects orbiting Earth, e.g. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentation debris. The system is the responsibility of Uni ...
. A notable feature of the system is its
phased array In antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled array of antennas which creates a beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving th ...
antenna technology, it was one of the first large phased array radars. A phased array was used because a conventional mechanically-rotated radar antenna cannot turn fast enough to track multiple ballistic missiles. A
nuclear strike Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...
on the US would consist of hundreds of
ICBMs An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons ...
and
SLBMs A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead a ...
incoming simultaneously. The beam of the phased array radar is steered electronically without moving the fixed antenna, so it can be pointed in a different direction in milliseconds, allowing it to track many incoming missiles at the same time.


Description

The AN/FPS-115 radar consists of two
phased array In antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled array of antennas which creates a beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving th ...
s of antenna elements mounted on two sloping sides of the 105 ft high transmitter building, which are oriented 120° apart in azimuth. The beam from each array can be deflected up to 60° from the array's central boresight axis, allowing each array to cover an azimuth angle of 120°, thus the entire radar can cover an azimuth of 240°. The building sides are sloped at an angle of 20°, and the beam can be directed at any elevation angle between 3° and 85°. The beam is kept at least 100 ft above the ground over public-accessible land to avoid the possibility of exposing the public to significant electromagnetic fields. Each array is a circle 72.5 ft (22.1 m) in diameter consisting of 2,677 crossed
dipole antenna In radio and telecommunications a dipole antenna or doublet is the simplest and most widely used class of antenna. The dipole is any one of a class of antennas producing a radiation pattern approximating that of an elementary electric dipole w ...
elements, of which 1,792 are powered and serve as both transmitting and receiving antennas, with the rest functioning as receiving antennas. Due to the phenomenon of
interference Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to: Communications * Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message * Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extr ...
the radio waves from the separate elements combine in front of the antenna to form a beam. The array has a
gain Gain or GAIN may refer to: Science and technology * Gain (electronics), an electronics and signal processing term * Antenna gain * Gain (laser), the amplification involved in laser emission * Gain (projection screens) * Information gain in de ...
of 38.6 dB, and the width of the beam is only 2.2°. The drive current for each antenna element passes through a device called a
phase shifter A phase shift module is a microwave network module which provides a controllable phase shift of the RF signal. Phase shifters are used in phased arrays. Classification Active versus passive Active phase shifters provide gain, while passive ...
, controlled by the central computer. By changing the relative timing (
phase Phase or phases may refer to: Science *State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist *Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform * Phase space, a mathematic ...
) of the current pulses supplied to each antenna element the computer can instantly steer the beam to a different direction. The radar operates in the UHF band between 420 - 450 MHz, which is shared with the 70 centimeter
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
band (just below the UHF television broadcast band), that is a wavelength of 71–67 cm, with
circular polarization In electrodynamics, circular polarization of an electromagnetic wave is a polarization state in which, at each point, the electromagnetic field of the wave has a constant magnitude and is rotating at a constant rate in a plane perpendicular to t ...
. It is an active array (
AESA Aesa or Aisa ( grc, Αἶσα) was a town of ancient Macedonia. Aesa belonged to the Delian League since it appears on a tribute list to Athens in 434/3 BCE. The editors of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World identify Aesa wi ...
); each of the 1,792 transmitting elements has its own solid-state transmitter/receiver module, and radiates a peak power of 320 W, so the peak power of each array is 580 kW. It operates in a repeating 54 millisecond cycle in which it transmits a series of pulses, then listens for echoes. Its duty cycle (fraction of time spent transmitting) is never greater than 25% (so the average power of the beam never exceeds 25% of 540 kW, or 145 kW) and is usually around 18%. It is reported to have a range of about 3,000
nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...
s (3,452 statute miles, 5,555 km); at that range it can detect an object the size of a small car, and smaller objects at closer ranges. The functioning of the radar is completely automatic, controlled by four computers. The software divides the beam time between "surveillance" and "tracking" functions, switching the beam back and forth rapidly between different tasks. In the surveillance mode, which normally consumes about 11% of the duty cycle, the radar repeatedly scans the horizon across its full 240° azimuth in a pattern between 3° and 10° elevation, creating a "surveillance fence" to immediately detect missiles as they rise above the horizon into the radar's field of view. In the tracking mode, which normally consumes the other 7% of the 18% duty cycle, the radar beam follows already-detected objects to determine their trajectory, calculating their launch and target points.


Background

Fixed-reflector radars with mechanically-scanned beams such as the 1955 GE
AN/FPS-17 The AN/FPS-17 was a ground-based fixed-beam radar system that was installed at three locations worldwide, including Pirinçlik Air Base (formerly Diyarbakir Air Station) in south-eastern Turkey, Laredo, Texas and Shemya Island, Alaska. This syste ...
Fixed Ground Radar and 1961 RCA AN/FPS-50 Radar Set were deployed for missile tracking, and the USAF tests of modified
AN/FPS-35 The AN/FPS-35 frequency diversity radar was a long range search radar used in the early 1960s. It was one of the largest air defense radars ever produced, with its antenna and supporting structure mounted on one of the largest rolling-element bear ...
mechanical radars at Virginia and Pennsylvania
SAGE radar stations The SAGE radar stations of Air Defense Command (Aerospace Defense Command after 1968) were the military installations operated by USAF squadrons using the 1st automated air defense environment (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) and networked by th ...
had "marginal ability" to detect
Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...
missiles in summer 1962. A Falling Leaves mechanical radar in New Jersey built for BMEWS successfully tracked a missile during the October 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
, and "an AN/FPS-85 long-range
phased array In antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled array of antennas which creates a beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving th ...
( Passive electronically scanned array) radar was constructed at
Eglin AFB Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 9 ...
" Site C-6, Florida beginning on 29 October 1962 (the Bendix Radio Division FPS-85 contract had been signed 2 April 1962). Early military phased array radars were also deployed for testing: Bendix AN/FPS-46 Electronically Steerable Array Radar (ESAR) at Towson, MD (powered up in November 1960), White Sands' Multi-function Array Radar (1963), and the
Kwajalein Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...
Missile Site Radar (1967).


Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile Detection and Warning System

The Avco 474N Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Detection and Warning System (SLBMD&W System) was deployed as "an austere…interim line-of-sight system" after approval in July 1965 to modify some
Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was est ...
(ADC) Avco AN/FPS-26 Frequency Diversity Radars into Avco AN/FSS-7 SLBM Detection Radars. The 474N sites planned for 1968 also were to include AN/GSQ-89 data processing equipment (for synthesizing tracks from radar returns), as well as site communications equipment that NORAD requested on 10 May 1965 to allow "dual full period dedicated data circuits" to the Cheyenne Mountain 425L System, which was "fully operational" on 20 April 1966. (
Cheyenne Mountain Complex The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is a Space Force installation and defensive bunker located in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, next to the city of Colorado Springs, at the Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station, which hosts the activities o ...
relayed 474N data to " SAC, the National Military Command Center, and the Alternate NMCC over BMEWS circuits", for presentation by Display Information Processors—impact ellipses and "threat summary display" with a count of incoming missiles and "Minutes Until First Impact" countdown). By December 1965 NORAD decided to use the
Project Space Track Project Space Track was a research and development project of the US Air Force, to create a tracking system for all artificial satellites of the Earth and space probes, domestic and foreign. Project Space Track was started at the Air Force Cambri ...
"phased-array radar at
Eglin AFB Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 9 ...
…for SLBM surveillance on an "on-call" basis" "at the appropriate
DEFCON The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. (DEFCON is not mentioned in the 2010 and newer document) The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and unified and spe ...
". By June 1966 the refined FPS-85 plan was for it "to have the capability to operate in the SLBM mode nterlaced transmissionswith the Spacetrack surveillance and tracking modes" Rebuilding of the "separate faces for transmitting and receiving" began in 1967 after the under-construction Eglin FPS-85 was "almost totally destroyed by fire on 5 January 1965". FPS-85 IOC was in 1969, 474N interim operations began in July 1970 (474N IOC was 5 May 1972), and in 1972 20% of Eglin FPS-85 "surveillance capability…became dedicated to search for SLBMs," and new SLBM software was installed in 1975. (the FPS-85 was expanded in 1974). The
Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex The Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex (SRMSC) was a cluster of military facilities near Langdon, North Dakota, that supported the United States Army's Safeguard Program, Safeguard anti-ballistic missile program. The complex provided launch an ...
with North Dakota phased arrays (four-face Missile Site Radar and single-face GE Perimeter Acquisition Radar, PAR) became operational in 1975 as part of the
Safeguard Program The Safeguard Program was a U.S. Army anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system designed to protect the U.S. Air Force's Minuteman ICBM silos from attack, thus preserving the US's nuclear deterrent fleet. It was intended primarily to protect against th ...
for defending against enemy ballistic missiles.


Development

The SLBM Phased Array Radar System (SPARS) was the USAF program initiated in November 1972 by the
Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...
(JCS) while the Army's PAR was under construction. A 1974 SPARS proposal for "two new SLBM Phased Array Warning Radars" was submitted to replace the east/west coast 474N detection radars, which had "limitations against Soviet SLBMs, particularly the longer range
SS-N-8 R-29 Vysota Р-29 Высота (''height'', ''altitude'') is a family of Soviet submarine-launched ballistic missiles, designed by Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. All variants use astro-inertial guidance systems. Variants R-29 *Deployment date: ...
" on 1973 "Delta" class submarines. Development began in August 1973, SPARS was renamed PAVE PAWS on 18 February 1975, and system production was requested by a 13 June 1975 Request for Proposals (RFP).
Rome Air Development Center Rome Laboratory (Rome Air Development Center until 1991) is the US "Air Force 'superlab' for command, control, and communications" research and development and is responsible for planning and executing the USAF science and technology program. ...
(RADC) "was responsible for the design, fabrication installation, integration test, and evaluation of" PAVE PAWS through 1980. (PAVE PAWS concept drawing on p. 141) The differing USAF AN/FPS-109 Cobra Dane phased array radar in Alaska achieved IOC on 13 July 1977 for "providing intelligence on Soviet test missiles fired at the
Kamchatka peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...
from locations in southwestern Russia". The
Safeguard A safeguard, in international law, is a restraint on international trade or economic development to protect communities from development aggression or home industries from foreign competition. In the World Trade Organization (WTO), a member may ...
PAR station that closed in 1976, had its radar "modified for the
ADCOM Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inac ...
mission during 1977 ndADCOM accepted
he Concrete Missile Early Warning Station He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
from the Army on 3 October 1977" for "SLBM surveillance of Arctic Ocean areas". By December 1977 RADC had developed the 322 watt PAVE PAWS "solid state transmitter and receiver module", and the System Program Office (ESD/OCL) issued the AN/FPS-115 "System Performance Specification …SS-OCLU-75-1A" on 15 December 1977. IBM's PAVE PAWS "beam-steering and pulse schedules from the CYBER-174" duplexed computers to the MODCOMP IV duplexed radar control computers were "based upon" PARCS program(s) installed for attack characterization in 1977 when the USAF received the Army's PAR. Bell Labs enhanced the PARCS beginning December 1978, e.g., "extending the range" by 1989 for the Enhanced PARCS configuration (EPARCS).


Environmental and health concerns

USAF environmental assessments in August 1975 and March 1976 for PAVE PAWS were followed by the EPA's Environmental Impact Analysis in December 1977. Environmental impacts were litigated in U.S. District Court in Boston. The government asserted the position that Pave Paws would protect the American coastline, while hiding the fact that it had no defensive armaments in the event an incoming missile was detected. The USAF requested the
National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...
(in May 1978) and a contractor, SRI International (April 1978), to assess PAVE PAWS radiation. Two NRC reports were prepared (1979,
tbd To be announced (TBA), to be confirmed (TBC), to be determined or decided or declared (TBD), and other variations, are placeholder terms used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a ...
), SRI's Environmental Impact Statement was reviewed during a 22 January 1979 public hearing at the Sandwich MA high school auditorium (~300 people). The studies found no elevated cancer risk from PAVE PAWS e.g., elevated
Ewing's sarcoma Ewing sarcoma is a type of cancer that forms in bone or soft tissue. Symptoms may include swelling and pain at the site of the tumor, fever, and a bone fracture. The most common areas where it begins are the legs, pelvis, and chest wall. In about ...
rates were not supported by 2005 available data (a December 2007 MA Department of Health report concluded it "appears unlikely that PAVE PAWS played a primary role in the incidence of
Ewing family of tumors The Ewing family of tumors is a group of cancers that includes Ewing tumor of bone (ETB or Ewing sarcoma of bone), extraosseous Ewing tumors (EOE tumors), primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET or peripheral neuroepithelioma), and Askin tumors (PNE ...
on Cape Cod.") A followup to a 1978 Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine report concluded in 2005 that power densities beyond were within
permissible exposure limit The permissible exposure limit (PEL or OSHA PEL) is a legal limit in the United States for exposure of an employee to a chemical substance or physical agent such as high level noise. Permissible exposure limits are established by the Occupational ...
s. Consistent with other regulations to prevent interference with aircraft systems, the
FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
restricts aircraft at altitudes below to maintain 1 nm (1.85 km) from the Cape Cod SSPARS phased array.


Deployment

On May 23, 1975 the
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
announced the
Raytheon Corporation The Raytheon Company was a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft unti ...
would be contracted to build the East Coast facility in
Otis Air Force Base Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media ** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl'' * Otis (''The Walking Dead''), in the Image Comics ...
and West Coast facility in
Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located approximately east of Marysville, California. It is located outside Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, and about north of Sacramento. The host ...
. On October 27, 1976, ground-breaking ceremonies were held at the East Coast Site. System performance testing at the Otis facility began on April 3, 1978 and completed by January 16, 1979. To mitigate interference at the FPS-115 site on Flatrock Hill from the Cape & Islands Emergency Medical Service (CIEMSS), on 8 February 1979 ESD installed six high pass filters—then Raytheon was contracted 24 May to move the EMS Repeater Station to
Bourne, Massachusetts Bourne ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on Bourne (CDP), ...
(completed 13 July). After a 5–7 March "final review of the East Coast PAVE PAWS
EIS Eis or EIS may refer to: Education * Eastern Independent Schools of Melbourne, in Australia * Educational Institute of Scotland, a trade union * Ekamai International School, in Bangkok, Thailand * English for Integrated Studies, a program in T ...
was held at Hq AFSC", the site was accepted by ESD on 12 April. The "first radio frequency transmission" from the West Coast Site was 23 March 1979 (it was completed in October 1979). "
ADCOM Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inac ...
wanted four AVE PAWSsites, but by the end of 1979 only two had been funded". The Cape Cod system reached
Initial operating capability Initial operating capability or initial operational capability (IOC) is the state achieved when a capability is available in its minimum usefully deployable form. The term is often used in government or military procurement. The United States D ...
(IOC) as the
Cape Cod Missile Early Warning Station Cape Cod Space Force Station is a United States Space Force station located in the northwest corner of Joint Base Cape Cod, United States, on Flatrock Hill in Massachusetts. Cape Cod Space Force Station began construction in 1976 as Cape Cod Mis ...
on 4 April 1981 with initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) completed 21 May; Beale AFB reached IOC on 15 August. The two PAVE PAWS, three BMEWS, and the PARCS & FPS-85 radar stations transferred to
Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
(then
Space Command A space command is a military organization with responsibility for space operations and warfare. A space command is typically a joint organization or organized within a larger military branch and is distinct from a fully independent space force. ...
) in 1983. By 1981 Cheyenne Mountain was providing 6,700 messages per hour including those based on input from the PAVE PAWS and the remaining FSS-7 stations. In 1981, as part of the
Worldwide Military Command and Control System The Worldwide Military Command and Control System, or WWMCCS , was a military command and control system implemented for the command and control of the United States military. It was created in the days following the Cuban Missile Crisis. WWMCCS ...
Information System (WIS), the Pentagon's National Military Command Center was receiving data "directly from the Satellite Early Warning System (SEWS) and directly from the PAVE PAWS sensor systems". Beam Steering Unit (BSU) and Receiver Beam Former (REX) replacements were made on the four Cape Cod and Beale radars in the 1980s.


Expansion

The PAVE PAWS Expansion Program had begun by February 1982 to replace "older FPS-85 and FSS-7 SLBM surveillance radars in Florida with a new PAVE PAWS radar to provide improved surveillance of possible SLBM launch areas southeast of the United States nd for anotherto the Southwest." After a 3 June 1983 RFP,
Raytheon Company The Raytheon Company was a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft unti ...
was contracted on 10 November and had a 22–23 February 1984 System Design Review for the Southeast and Southwest radars. The Expansion's Development Test and Engineering testing commenced on 3 February 1986 at the Southeast Site (PAVE PAWS Site 3,
Robins Air Force Base Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast o ...
—completed 5 June) and 15 August at the Southwest Site (PAVE PAWS Site 4,
Eldorado Air Force Station Eldorado Air Force Station located south of San Angelo, Texas was one of the four unique AN/FPS-115 PAVE PAWS, early-warning phased-array radar systems. The 8th Space Warning Squadron, 21st Space Wing, Air Force Space Command operated at El ...
). The Gulf Coast FPS-115s were operational in 1986 (Robins) and May 1987 (Eldorado IOC). In February 1995, all 4 radars were being netted by the "missile warning center at Cheyenne Mountain AS
hich was Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District (Ijrud County), Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 72 ...
undergoing a $450 million upgrade program". Other centers receiving PAVE PAWS output were the 19xx Missile Correlation Center and 19xx Space Control Center. During the End of Cold War draw down, the Eldorado and Robins radar stations closed in 1995. By October 1999, Cape Cod and Beale radars were providing data via Jam Resistant Secure Communication (JRSC) circuits to the Command Center Processing and Display System in the NMCC. The transition of BMEWS and PAVE PAWS to SSPARS had begun with the 4 AN/FPS-50 BMEWS radars near
Thule Air Base Thule Air Base (pronounced or , kl, Qaanaaq Mitarfik, da, Thule Lufthavn), or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located north o ...
being replaced with a Raytheon AN/FPS-120 Solid State Phased Array Radar at
Thule Site J Thule Site J (J-Site) is a United States Space Force (USSF) radar station in Greenland near Thule Air Base for missile warning and United States Space Surveillance Network, spacecraft tracking. The northernmost station of the Solid State Phased ...
(operational "2QFY87").


In Taiwanese service

An AN/FPS-115 system was sold to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
in 2000 and installed at Loshan or Leshan Mountain,
Tai'an, Miaoli Tai'an Township / Taian Township () is a mountain indigenous township in southeastern Miaoli County, Taiwan. It is the largest township and the only mountain indigenous township in Miaoli County.http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=108210&ctNode=4 ...
in 2006. It was commissioned into service in 2013. The system cost approximately 1.4 billion USD and Raytheon was the prime contractor. It provides up to six minutes notice of Chinese ballistic missile attack. The system spends most of its time observing satellites and orbital debris, this information is shared with the United States. In 2016 Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems was awarded a $26.2 million contract to upgrade Taiwan's radar system. This followed on a $289.5 million sustainment contract with Raytheon was awarded in 2012. It has been reported that the defenses of Taiwan's PAVE PAWS system include a land based
Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the Gene ...
. Taiwan had explored the acquisition of a second PAVE PAWS set but in 2012 decided against the purchase as the first PAVE PAWS set was significantly over budget and behind schedule. The second system would have been located in the south and together the PAVE PAWS sets would have provided Taiwan with 360-degree coverage. The radar site in Taiwan sits on top of a mountain at an elevation of over 2,600 m (8,500 ft). Due to its extremely elevated position the Taiwanese set has the unique ability to track surface ships. Detection and tracking data is believed to be shared with the United States in real time, however this has not been officially confirmed. The radar site was first occupied by a
Naval Maritime and Surveillance Command The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World Wa ...
radar surveillance facility which was relocated to a higher peak in the same region to make way for PAVE PAWS.


Replacement

The
Solid State Phased Array Radar System The Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPARS, colloquially "BMEWS radar network'" as late as 2004) is a United States Space Force radar, computer, and communications system for missile warning and space surveillance "at five (5) geographica ...
(SSPARS) began replacing PAVE PAWS when the first AN/FPS-115 face was taken off-line for the radar upgrade. New Raytheon AN/FPS-123 Early Warning Radars became operational in 19xx (Beale) and 19xx (Cape Cod) in each base's existing PAVE PAWS "Scanner Building".
RAF Fylingdales Royal Air Force Fylingdales or more simply RAF Fylingdales is a Royal Air Force station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its motto is "Vigilamus" (translates to "We are watching"). It is a radar base and is also part of the Ball ...
, UK and
Clear Space Force Station Clear Space Force Station is a United States Space Force radar station for detecting incoming ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles to NORAD's command center and to provide Space Surveillance data to the United States Space Force. ...
, Alaska BMEWS stations became SSPARS radar stations when their respective AN/FPS-126 radar (3 faces) and 2001 Raytheon AN/FPS-120 Solid State Phased Array Radar became operational. In 2007, 100 owners/trustees of amateur radio repeaters in the 420 to 450 MHz band near AN/FPS-123 radars were notified to lower their power output to mitigate interference, and AN/FPS-123s were part of the
Air Force Space Surveillance System The AN/FPS-133 Air Force Space Surveillance System, colloquially known as the Space Fence, was a U.S. government multistatic radar system built to detect orbital objects passing over America. It is a component of the U.S. space surveillance ...
by 2009. The Beale AN/FPS-123 was upgraded to a Raytheon
AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar The Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPARS, colloquially "BMEWS radar network'" as late as 2004) is a United States Space Force radar, computer, and communications system for missile warning and space surveillance "at five (5) geographica ...
(UEWR), circa 2012, with capabilities to operate in the
Ground-based Midcourse Defense Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) is the United States' anti-ballistic missile system for intercepting incoming warheads in space, during the midcourse phase of ballistic trajectory flight. It is a major component of the American missile de ...
(GMD) ABM system—the Beale UEWR included Avionics, Transmit-Receive modules, Receiver Exciter / Test Target Generator, Beam Steering Generator, Signal Processor, and other changes. After additional UEWR installations for GMD at Thule Site J and the UK (contracted 2003), a 2012 ESD/XRX Request for Information for replacement, and remote operation, of the remaining "PAVE PAWS/BMEWS/PARCS systems" at Cape Cod, Alaska, and North Dakota was issued. The Alaska AN/FPS-132 was contracted in fall 2012 and in 2013, the U.S. announced a plan to sell an AN/FPS-132 to
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
.


See also

*
Dunay radar Dunay radar ( rus, Дунай, Dunay literally Danube; NATO: Cat House, Dog House) was a system of two Soviet radars used to detect American ballistic missiles fired at Moscow. They were part of the A-35 anti-ballistic missile system. One secto ...
, a UHF radar with a similar function and era of development. *
Voronezh radar Voronezh radars (russian: РЛС Воронеж) are the current generation of Russian early-warning radar, providing long distance monitoring of airspace against ballistic missile attack and aircraft monitoring. The first radar, in Lekhtusi ne ...
, the latest post Soviet-era Russian equivalent.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Republic of China Air Force 1978 establishments in the United States Radar networks United States Space Surveillance Network Cold War military equipment of the United States Air Force Military history of Taiwan Military equipment introduced in the 1980s