The Permanent System ("P system") was a 1950s radar network ("P radar net") used for the CONUS "manual air defense system" and which had a USAF aircraft control and warning (AC&W) organization of personnel and

military installations A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

with radars to allow

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 ...

ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was ...

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 ...

bombers attacking the United States.

Planning

As with the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

CONUS radar network of "Army Radar Stations",

Aircraft Warning Corps The Aircraft Warning Corps (AWC) was a World War II United States Army Air Force organization for Continental United States air defense. The corps' information centers networked an area's "Army Radar Stations" which communicated radar tracks by t ...

information centers,

Ground Observer Corps The Ground Observer Corps (GOC), sometimes erroneously referred to as the Ground ''Observation'' Corps, was the name of two American civil defense organizations during the middle 20th century. World War II organization The first Ground Observer ...

filter centers, and Fighter Control Centers ("inactivated...in April 1944"), a post-war system was planned to assess bomber attacks and for dispatching interceptors. The Distant Early Warning Line was "first conceived—and rejected—in 1946", General Stratemeyer forwarded an air defense plan to General Spaatz in November 1946, and in the spring and summer of 1947, 3

(ADC) Aircraft Control and Warning (AC&W) plans had gone unfunded: e.g., the April 8, 1947, "air defense plan (long term)". With only 5 "Air Warning Station" radars operating in 1948, the "Radar Fence Plan (

code name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

d Project SUPREMACY)" was planned for completion by 1953 with 411 radar stations and 18 control centers. The

Radar Fence Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, wea ...

was rejected by ADC since "no provision was made in it for the Alaska to Greenland net with flanks guarded by aircraft and

radar picket A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from cr ...

ships equiredfor 3 to 6 hours of warning time" (the Alaska to Greenland net was eventually built as the Distant Early Warning Line). ADC's Interim Program and its First Augmentation were planned "until the Supremacy plan network could be approved and constructed", and an $85,500,000 March 1949 Congressional bill funded both the Interim Program "for 61 basic radars and 10 control centers to be deployed in 26 months, with an additional ten radars and one control station for Alaska" and the augmentation's additional 15 radars ("essentially Phase II of Supremacy"). The resulting

Lashup Radar Network The Lashup Radar Network was a United States Cold War radar netting system for air defense surveillance which followed the post-World War II "five-station radar net" and preceded the "high Priority Permanent System". ROTOR was a similar expedient ...

was completed in April 1950 and was operational in June 1950. On February 13, 1950, HQ USAF had "advanced the completion date from July 1, 1951, to December 31, 1950, for the most essential radar stations. The USAF reallocated $50 million for the "permanent Modified Plan" (modified from Supremacy) to "start construction on the high Priority Permanent System of radars in February 1950 with the first 24 radar sites to be constructed by the end of 1950". Early June 1950 exercises "in the 58th Air Division

bd Lashup sites BD, Bd or bd may refer to: In arts and entertainment * B. D. (Doonesbury), a major character in the ''Doonesbury'' comic strip * ''Bande dessinée'' (or "bédé"), a French term for comics * Bass drum, in sheet music notation * Brahe Djäkn ...

indicated insufficient low-altitude coverage," and the Secretary of the Air Force requested a 2nd stage of 28 stations on July 11, 1950 (Secretary of Defense approval was on July 21.) By November 1950,

Ground Observation Corps The Ground Observer Corps (GOC), sometimes erroneously referred to as the Ground ''Observation'' Corps, was the name of two American civil defense organizations during the middle 20th century. World War II organization The first Ground Observer ...

filter centers (7 in the west, 19 in the east) were being installed. By November 10 a separate Air Defense Command headquarters was approved, the Federal Civil Defense Administration was created in December 1950, and command centers communicated radar track information to the national ADC center that had moved from

Mitchell Field Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is a civil–military airport south of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States., effective May 21, 2020. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Air ...

Ent Air Force Base Ent Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A tent city, established in 1943 during construction of the base, was initially commanded by Major General Uzal Girard ...

on 8 January 1951.

Description

The "original construction program for the Permanent System" was completed in May 1952, USAF AC&W squadrons were established (renamed Radar Squadrons in the mid-1950s), and the

was expanded in 1952 ( Operation Skywatch) with over 750,000 volunteers at over 16 thousand posts (98 per post in shifts) and 75 centers.

Manual Air Defense Control Centers

Manual Air Defense Control Centers (ADCC, MCC) of the Permanent System were

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 ...

command posts for command, control, and coordination by

, including early

of enemy aircraft. Each MCC networked radar stations of the sector, plotted radar tracks & visual observations, and forwarded information to ADC command center at

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territory ...

in 1951, and the new 1954 Ent blockhouse subsequently used by the 1954

CONAD Conad ('), stylized CONAD, is an Italian retail store brand which operates one of the largest supermarket chains in Italy. Created in 1962, Conad is a cooperative system of entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of e ...

and the 1957

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

. MCCs were generally located at or near a radar station, e.g.,

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

MCC in Maryland (at/near radar station SM-171),

Dobbins AFB Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB is a United States Air Force reserve air base located in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb about northwest of Atlanta. Originally known as Dobbins Air Force Base, it was named in honor of Captain Charles M. ...

GA (M-87),

Geiger Field Spokane International Airport is a commercial airport located approximately west-southwest of downtown Spokane, Washington, United States. It is the primary airport serving the Inland Northwest, which consists of 30 counties and includes are ...

WA (SM-172),

Kirtland AFB Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Ro ...

NM (P-41),

Norton AFB Norton Air Force Base (1942–1994) was a United States Air Force facility east of downtown San Bernardino in San Bernardino County, California. Overview For the majority of its operational lifetime, Norton was a logistics depot and heavy-li ...

CA (P-84),

Oklahoma City AFS Oklahoma City Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-52, NORAD-ID: Z-52) is a closed Cold War United States Air Force air defense and communications-electronics headquarters and radar station. It was located east-southeast of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, j ...

OK (P-52),

Roslyn AFS Roslyn Air National Guard Station (ADC ID: P-3) is a closed United States Air Force station. It was located in East Hills, New York, on Long Island. It was originally part of Clarence MacKay's Harbor Hill estate. It was closed in 2000. History ...

NY (P-3),

Snelling AFS Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anth ...

MN (P-36),

Willow Run AFS Willow Run Airport is an airport in Van Buren Charter Township and Ypsilanti Township, near Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States that serves freight, corporate, and general aviation. Due to its very close proximity to Detroit Metropolitan Ai ...

MI (P-23), and

Wright-Patterson AFB Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wri ...

OH (SM-170). Some MCCs were replaced by Direction Centers of the subsequent SAGE Radar Network, e.g., when McGuire DC-01 was established, the Roslyn Air Force Station MCC became the "Combat Alert Center (Manual)". MCCs continued at several sites where DCs were planned but never built for sectors at

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold res ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

, and

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. ;Filter Centers: Filter Centers of the

(e.g., i
New Haven, Connecticut
and

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

). processed reports from ~8,000 CONUS watch posts. As with ranger stations for forest fires, watch posts measured the azimuth of a target aircraft or formation, and Filter Centers triangulated azimuth observations from 2 or more stations, assessed the reliability of observations, and provided visual track information to MCCs.

Radar stations

Five radar stations of the

were redesignated as Permanent System stations (3 later upgraded with newer radars developed for the Permanent System): Montauk L-10/LP-45/P-45, Fort Custis L-15/LP-56, Palermo L-13/LP-54/P-54, Sault Sainte Marie L-17/LP-20, and Highlands L-12/LP-9/P-9. From March to November 1951, the "LP" designation was also used for 23 new stations for the Permanent System that were outfitted, instead of with radars developed for the Permanent System, with older radars such as the January 1945 General Electric

AN/CPS-5 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United States, a ...

radar, 1948 Western Electric AN/TPS-1B Radar, and Bendix AN/TPS-1C radar.MX-1000 to MX-1499 Listing
Designation-systems.net (2005-11-20). Retrieved on 2013-09-18. The LP designator was also used for 1 station opened with

AN/FPS-3 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United States ...

and

AN/FPS-5 The AN/FPS-5 was a nodding height-finding radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. It was unique in that it used a fixed reflector and a moving feed in order to steer the beam. It was produced in the early 1950s by Hazeltine, ...

radars in 1950 ( Tierra Amarilla LP-8). More than 15 of the new LP stations were subsequently upgraded and designated P-xx stations, and some of the squadrons at LP stations that closed moved to new P stations. New LP sites not previously designated L sites: * Bellefontaine LP-73/P-73 (TPS-1B in November 1951), *Blue Knob LP-63 (TPS-1C November 30, 1951—station moved to Gibbsboro RP-63 in 1961), * Cambria LP-2/P-2 (TPS-1C November 1951) * Caswell LP-80/P-80 (TPS-1B March 1951), * Colville LP-60/P-60 (TPS-1B March 1951, TPS-1C November 1951), * Condon LP-32/P-32 (TPS-1C November 1951), * Curlew LP-6/P-6 Mt Bonaparte TPS-1B 1950 * Del Bonita LP-24 (TPS-1B November 1951) (P-24 is Cut Bank AFS), *

Williams Bay AFS Williams Bay Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-31) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located north of Williams Bay, Wisconsin, in the Town of Geneva, Wisconsin. It was closed in 1960. History In late 195 ...

Elkhorn LP-31 (moved to RP-31 at Arlington Heights AFS), * Finland LP-69/P-69 (CPS-5 November 30, 1951), * Fort Custer LP-67/P-67 (TPS-1B November 30, 1951), * Godman Field LP-82 (TPS-1C April 30, 1952) (P-82 Snow Mountain AFS), *Gonzales LP-7 (P-7 Continental Divide AFS), *Hill Peak Road LP-37 (P-37

Point Arena AFS Point Arena Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-37, NORAD ID: Z-37) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east of Point Arena, California. It was closed in 1998 by the Air Force, and turned over to the ...

), *Keweenaw LP-16 (P-16

Calumet AFS Calumet Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east-northeast of Phoenix, Michigan. It was closed in 1988 by the Air Force, and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administratio ...

), * Klamath LP-33/P-33 TPS-1B (Apr 51) * Madera LP-74/P-74 (TPS-1B in March 51), * Moriarty LP-51/P-51 CPS-5 (30 Nov 51) * Port Austin LP-61/P-61 TPS-1C 30-Nov-51 * Rockville LP-53/P-53 TPS-1B (30 Nov 51) *Saddle Mountain/ Othello LP-40/P-40 TPS-1B * San Clemente Island LP-39/P-39 TPS-1C Nov-51 * Tierra Amarilla LP-8/P-8 FPS-3; FPS-5; 1950 Permanent System radars were developed in various programs such as the

AN/FPS-6 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United Stat ...

(in program MX-1353 - "Long range S-band height finder") and AN/MPS-10 (MX-1354 - "Mobile long range search radar set"). ;Priority Permanent System: The "Priority Permanent System" with the initial (priority) radar stations having new radar systems included "

ADC ADC may refer to: Science and medicine * ADC (gene), a human gene * AIDS dementia complex, neurological disorder associated with HIV and AIDS * Allyl diglycol carbonate or CR-39, a polymer * Antibody-drug conjugate, a type of anticancer treatm ...

radar site" P-1 at

McChord AFB McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worldwi ...

on June 1, 1950. Completed in May 1952 to replace the 1950

, the Priority Permanent System had 5 redesignated LASHUP stations, 23 new stations in 1951 with older radars, 62 stations in 1951 with new equipment, and several of the 10 newly equipped 1952 stations (including Manassas RP-55). The Priority Permanent System used Manual ADCCs, e.g., with

Plexiglas Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, ...

plotting boards as at the 1954

command center for ADC. ;P system extension: The "first extension of the P system into Canada" ("Canadian extensions") for the

Pinetree Line The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across the northern United States and southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific coasts. ...

was planned by the "Radar Extension Program" for 33 stations and was agreed by the US and Canada in November 1950. The plan "was submitted to the Permanent Joint Board on Defense on February 6, 1951, and" was subsequently approved by both nations, but by "April 1951 the United States still had not contributed to the Radar Extension Program". On June 13, 1951, the US released $20 million for the stations and by June 1952, the joint Canadian-American committee on the Radar Extension Program was replaced with the "Project Pinetree Office" in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. ;Gap-filler and semi-mobile radar stations: On January 18, 1952, ADC proposed the construction of small, unmanned stations with gap filler radars. The USAF

Directorate of Plans The Directorate of Operations (DO), less formally called the Clandestine Service,Central Intelligence AgencyCareers & Internships Retrieved: July 9, 2015. is a component of the US Central Intelligence Agency. It was known as the ''Directorate o ...

(War Plans Division) "prepared the proposal … to add 29 mobile and 135 low-altitude stations to ADC's radar system" for completion by the end of 1955. The first phase began with three 1953 stations at Walker M-90, Ellsworth M-97, and Houma M-126 (Z-126); and was completed with 1957 stations at Almaden M-96 (Z-96), Mount Hebo M-100, Jacksonville M-114 (Z-114), and Cherry Point M-116.
The "second-phase mobile radar program" was requested by the ADC commander in October 1952 and was completed from 1954 starting with

SM-172 through 1962 with Hastings SM-133 (Z-133). The ''Planning Guide for the Third Phase Augmentation Radar Program was issued April 5, 1954, and the 3rd phase was for 29 stations, many for coverage along the U.S.-Mexican border and the Gulf of Mexico (the

Air Force Council The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Gravity of Earth, Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating Atmo ...

had agreed with ADC's request for the third phase on October 28, 1953.) The "resulting 104 stations were all to be operational by 1956", and a mock 1956 attack blinded ground defense radars. The third phase of 29 stations was deployed beginning with 5 1957 stations and ended with the 1960 Sundance TM-201 (Z-201). Gap-filler annexes of Mather P-58 (P-58A at

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

& P-58B at Oroville) were some of the Permanent System stations planned, but never built. Texas Towers were approved on January 11, 1954, and despite 11 Permanent System radar stations closing in 1957 ( N-28 Pinetree station and the M-87, M-101, M-104, M-105, M-106, M-109, M-122, M-128, M-131, & SM-137 stations), at "the end of 1957, ADC operated 182 radar stations…32 had been added during the last half of the year as low-altitude, unmanned gap-filler radars. The total consisted of 47 gap-filler stations, 75 Permanent System radars, 39 semimobile radars, 19 Pinetree stations,…1 Lashup

era radar and a An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

single

Texas Tower The Texas Towers were a set of three radar facilities off the eastern seaboard of the United States which were used for surveillance by the United States Air Force during the Cold War. Modeled on the offshore oil drilling platforms first employe ...

". ;Relocated stations: When radar stations began converting to SAGE, 8 Permanent stations that closed from 1959-1964 had their squadrons relocated to stations with "RP" designations, including the radar squadrons from the last 2 remaining "LP" stations: ( Elkhorn/Williams Bay LP-31 and Blue Knob/Claysburg LP-63). All but 1 of the relocating squadrons went to new sites (the 770th moved to a 1955 Army radar station designated USAF RP-54 in 1961), and 5 of the units co-located with

Project Nike Project Nike (Greek: Νίκη, "Victory") was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft mi ...

Missile Master Missile Master was a type of United States Army, US Army United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Missile Command military installation for the Cold War Project Nike, each which were a System of systems, complex of systems and facil ...

units. A 1959-1961 USAF radar squadron was at the

Fort Heath Fort Heath was a US seacoast military installation for defense of the Boston and Winthrop Harbors with an early 20th-century Coast Artillery fort, a 1930s USCG radio station, prewar naval research facilities, World War II batteries, and a C ...

radar station of the joint-use site system (JUSS).

Replacement

Groundbreaking for the SAGE System facilities began in 1957, Ground Observer Corps operations ended in 1958,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VukVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dBAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1611,526065&dq=filter-center&hl=en and most Permanent System radar stations were modified to have an AN/FST-2 computer to provide the automated environment (

cf. The abbreviation ''cf.'' (short for the la, confer/conferatur, both meaning "compare") is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that ''cf.'' be used onl ...

Mather AFB Mather Air Force Base (Mather AFB) was a United States Air Force Base, which was closed in 1993 pursuant to a post-Cold War BRAC decision. It was located east of Sacramento, on the south side of U.S. Route 50 in Sacramento County, Californ ...

which relayed data through

Mill Valley AFS Ground Equipment Facility J-33 is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar station of the Joint Surveillance System's Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) with an Air Route Surveillance Radar ( ARSR-4). The facility was previously a USAF ...

). On "June 26, 1958,…the New York sector became operational" with the SAGE Direction Center at

McGuire AFB McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the ju ...

(DC-01), and in 1959, ADC's Air Divisions and the AC&W Squadrons were redesignated, e.g., the 27th Air Division was renamed between February 1, 1959, and April 1, 1966, as the

Los Angeles Air Defense Sector The Southwest Air Defense Sector (SWADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 31 December 1994. L ...

(LAADS); and the 609th AC&W Sq became the " 614th Radar Squadron (SAGE)" on September 1, 1959. Permanent System stations not included in the SAGE network were phased out beginning with 9 in 1957; then the first closure for SAGE of a 1951 station (Roslyn P-3) was in 1958. The radar stations were redesignated with NORAD identification numbers Z-2, etc. on July 31, 1963. The SAGE centers were subsequently replaced with the

full operational capability In military acquisition, full operating capability or full operational capability (FOC) is the completion of a development effort. This is usually preceded by an initial operating capability or initial operational capability (IOC) phase. For the Un ...

of 7

Joint Surveillance System The Joint Surveillance System (JSS) is a joint United States Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration system for the atmospheric air defense of North America. It replaced the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system in 1983. Overvie ...

centers on December 23, 1980, and remaining radar stations of the permanent network include the former 1951 P-37,

P-38 The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

, and RP-39 which became

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 ...

Ground Equipment Facility radar stations of the

References

{{Reflist , refs= {{Cite report , last1=Del Papa , first1=Dr. E. Michael , last2=Warner , first2=Mary P. , date=October 1987 , title=A Historical Chronology of the Electronic Systems Division 1947-1986 , url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a201708.pdf , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224105532/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a201708.pdf , url-status=live , archive-date=December 24, 2013 , number=ESD-TR-88-276 (AD-A201 708) , accessdate=2012-07-19 , quote=''so-called Semi-Automatic Direction Center System, later known as…Semi-Automatic Ground Environment System, in essence, the Lincoln Transition System.'' {{cite AV media , others=Morton, Colonel John (narrator) , title=In Your Defense , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06drBN8nlWg , format=digitized movie , publisher=Western Electric , accessdate=2012-04-03 compiled by {{Cite book , last1=Johnson , first1=Mildred W , date=31 December 1980 , orig-year=February 1973 original by Cornett, Lloyd H. Jr , title=A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980 , url=http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/handbookofadcorg.pdf , publisher=Office of History,

Aerospace Defense Center The Aerospace Defense Center (ADC) was a unit of the United States Air Force. It was under the command of the general that also commanded both North American Aerospace Defense Command and Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM). The center included the ...

, location=

Peterson Air Force Base Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a U.S. Space Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the Nor ...

, page={{Verify source, date=April 2012 , accessdate=2012-03-26 {{Cite report , last=Schaffel , first=Kenneth , year=1991 , title=Emerging Shield: The Air Force and the Evolution of Continental Air Defense 1945-1960 , url=https://archive.org/details/TheEmergingShield , format=45MB

pdf Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

, work=General Histories , publisher=

Office of Air Force History An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

, isbn=0-912799-60-9 , accessdate=2011-09-26 , url-access=registration {{Cite book , chapter=Chapter 3: Planning for Air Defense in the Postwar Era , title=Emerging Shield , pages=47-81 (pdf pp. 62-96) {{Cite book , title=History of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense, 1945-1955: Volume I , url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/bmd/BMDV1.pdf , quote=''Stations were undermanned, personnel lacked training, and repair and maintenance were difficult. This stop-gap system later would be replaced by a 75-station, permanent net authorized by Congress and approved by the President in 1949 … To be closer to ConAC, ARAACOM moved to Mitchel AFB, New York on 1 November 1950.'' {{Cite book , chapter=Chapter II: American Strategy for Air and Ballistic Missile Defense , title=History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense, 1945–1955: Volume I , pages=37–68 {{Cite report , last1=Winkler , first1=David F , last2=Webster , first2=Julie L , date=June 1997 , title=Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program , url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201202922/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 , url-status=dead , archive-date=December 1, 2012 , publisher=U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories , lccn=97020912 , accessdate=2012-03-26 , quote=''"BUIC II radar sites would be capable of incorporating data feeds from other radar sectors directly onto their radar screens. '' Lists of Cold War sites Radar networks Stations of the United States Air Force

Planning

Description

Manual Air Defense Control Centers

Radar stations

Replacement

See also

References