Tonopah Air Force Station (ADC ID: SM-164, NORAD ID: Z-164) is a closed

United States Air Force 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 Signal ...

General Surveillance Radar station. It is located south of

Tonopah, Nevada Tonopah ( , Shoshoni language: Tonampaa) is an unincorporated town in, and the county seat of, Nye County, Nevada, United States. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95, approximately midway between Las Vegas and Reno. In the 2 ...

. It was closed in 1970.

History

Tonopah Air Force Station was initially part of Phase II of the

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 ...

Mobile Radar program. The Air Force approved this expansion of the Mobile Radar program on October 23, 1952. Radars in this network were designated “SM.” The station became operational on 1 October 1956 when the 866th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was moved to the new station, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. In 1957 the 866th AC&W Squadron activated an AN/MPS-7 radar and operated manually. In June 1961 the site was moved to another peak and joined the

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. S ...

(SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-21 at

Stead AFB Reno Stead Airport is a large public and military general aviation airport located in the North Valleys area, 10 nautical miles (19 km) northwest of the central business district of Reno, in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. A for ...

, Nevada. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the 866th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 July 1961. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile. In addition, the 866th Radar Squadron operated a pair of

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 Sta ...

height-finder and

AN/FPS-7 The AN/FPS-7 Radar was a Long Range Search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. In the mid-1950s General Electric developed a radar with a search altitude of 100,000 feet and a range of 270 miles. This radar was signific ...

C search radars. In 1963 the height-finder radars were converted to

AN/FPS-90 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 Sta ...

sets, and on 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-164. One AN/FPS-90 was retired in 1969. The Air Force inactivated the 866th Radar Squadron 1 July 1970 as a result of budget restrictions, and the general phase-down of air defense radar stations. However, during the 1970s, a site near the former radar station was used by the Air Force as part of the Foreign Technology Evaluation program being conducted at nearby

Tonopah Test Range Airport Tonopah Test Range Airport , at the Tonopah Test Range (Senior Trend project site PS-66) is southeast of Tonopah, Nevada and northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a major airfield with a runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime i ...

. A " Bar Lock" search radar from the Soviet Union was installed at the former Tonopah AFS GATR site to evaluate the Soviet Air Defense System. It was a very valuable tool use for many things. The Air Force needed to develop all the interfacing equipment in order to use the data in remote locations. Great care was taken not do anything to change the characteristics of the radar itself. Much equipment was duplicated and placed in different locations to complete the ground environment, which turned out to be a great training facility. Today, the former Tonopah AFS is a commercial transmitter site. A few old Air Force buildings are still in use for other uses. The FAA radar uses two out of the three former USAF RADAR platforms.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

* Constituted as the 866th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Activated at

Hamilton AFB Hamilton Field (Hamilton AFB) was a United States Air Force base, which was inactivated in 1973, decommissioned in 1974, and put into a caretaker status with the Air Force Reserves until 1976. It was transferred to the United States Army in 1983 ...

, California on 8 November 1954 : Inactivated on 15 December 1954 : Activated at Hamilton AFB, CA on 9 October 1955 : Moved to Tonopah AFS on 1 October 1956 : Redesignated 866th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 July 1961 : Inactivated on 1 July 1970

Assignments

28th Air Division The 28th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It was inactivated on 29 May 1992. History Established in December 1 ...

, 1 October 1956 *

San Francisco Air Defense Sector The San Francisco Air Defense Sector (SFADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 28th Air Division, being stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California. The sector was established in February 19 ...

, 1 July 1960 *

Reno Air Defense Sector The Reno Air Defense Sector (ReADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 28th Air Division, being stationed at Stead Air Force Base, Nevada. History ReADS was established in February 1959 assumi ...

, 15 September 1960 *

26th Air Division The 26th Air Division (26th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inacti ...

, 1 April 1966 *

27th Air Division The 27th Air Division was a United States Air Force numbered air division and the geographic Air Defense Command region controlled by the 27th AD. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command (ADC)'s Tenth Air Force, at Luke Air Force Base, ...

, 15 September 1969 * 26th Air Division, 19 November 1969 - 1 July 1970

References

* Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W.,
A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980
', Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO (1980). * Winkler, David F. & Webster, Julie L.,
Searching the Skies
', The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
Information for Tonopah AFS, NV
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in Nevada Radar stations of the United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command military installations 1956 establishments in Nevada Military installations established in 1956 Military installations closed in 1970 1970 disestablishments in Nevada

History

Air Force units and assignments

Units

Assignments

See also

References