SSPARS Radar, Clear AFB
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The Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPARS),
colloquially Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation am ...
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar network (BMEWS radar network), is a
United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...
radar, computer, and communications system for missile warning and space surveillance. There are SSPARS systems at five sites:
Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base in Yuba County, California, Yuba County, California. It is outside Linda, California, Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville, California, Marysville and Yuba City, and abo ...
, CA,
Cape Cod Space Force 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 Bourne, Massachusetts. Cape Cod Space Force Station began construction in 1976 as Cape ...
, MA, Clear Space Force Station, AK,
RAF Fylingdales Royal Air Force Fylingdales (RAF Fylingdales) is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its motto is ''Vigilamus'' ("We are watching"). It is a radar Military base, base and i ...
, UK, and
Pituffik Space Base Pituffik Space Base ( ; ; ), formerly Thule Air Base (), is a United States Space Force base located on the northwest coast of Greenland in the Kingdom of Denmark under a defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. 150 United Stat ...
, Greenland. The system completed replacement of the RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System when the last SSPAR was operational at then-
Clear Air 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. Cle ...
in 2001.


Classification of radar systems

Under the
Joint Electronics Type Designation System The Joint Electronics Type Designation System (JETDS), which was previously known as the Joint Army-Navy Nomenclature System (AN System. JAN) and the Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System, is a method developed by the U.S. War Depa ...
(JETDS), all U.S. military radar and tracking systems are assigned a unique identifying alphanumeric designation. The letters “AN” (for Army-Navy) are placed ahead of a three-letter code. *The first letter of the three-letter code denotes the type of platform hosting the electronic device, where A=Aircraft, F=Fixed (land-based), S=Ship-mounted, and T=Ground transportable. *The second letter indicates the type of equipment, where P=Radar (pulsed), Q=Sonar, and R=Radio. *The third letter indicates the function or purpose of the device, where G=Fire control, R=Receiving, S=Search, and T=Transmitting. The AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) is a series of
phased array radar A phaser is an electronic sound processor used to filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. The position of the peaks and troughs of the waveform being affected is typically modulated by an interna ...
systems used for long-range
early warning An early warning system is a warning system that can be implemented as a Poset, chain of information communication systems and comprises sensors, Detection theory, event detection and decision support system, decision subsystems for early identi ...
and
space surveillance Space domain awareness is the study and monitoring of satellites orbiting the Earth. It involves the detection, tracking, cataloging and identification of artificial objects, i.e. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentatio ...
, operating as part of the United States Missile Defense and
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 ...
. Thus, the AN/FPS-132 represents the 132nd design of an Army-Navy “Fixed, Radar, Search” electronic device.


History

The Solid State Phased Array Radar System is a phased array radar with 2500 "solid state transmitter" modules. It began replacing PAVE PAWS when the first AN/FPS-115 face was taken off-line for the radar upgrade. New AN/FPS-123 Early Warning Radars became operational at (Beale) and (Cape Cod) in each base's existing PAVE PAWS "Scanner Building". In 2001 SSPARS equipment included: * Raytheon AN/FPS-123 PAVE PAWS Radar at
Beale Beale is an English surname. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Dorset (6.3 times the British average), followed by Huntingdonshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Warwickshire, Kent and Su ...
(FPS-115
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...
4 April 1980) and Cape Cod (FPS-115
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...
15 August 1980) * Raytheon AN/FPS-120 Solid State Phased Array Radar at
Thule Thule ( ; also spelled as ''Thylē'') is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography. First written of by the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, France) in about 320 BC, i ...
("2QFY87") with greater radar capabilities than the FPS-115 PAVE PAWS radars * Raytheon AN/FPS-126 Solid State Phased Array Radar at
Fylingdales Fylingdales is a civil parish in North Yorkshire, England situated south of Whitby, within the North York Moors National Park. It contains the villages of Robin Hood's Bay and Fylingthorpe and Fyling Hall School. According to the 2011 UK cen ...
with three faces for 360 degree coverage (constructed August 1989-October 1992) *Raytheon AN/FPS-120 Solid State Phased Array Radar using an older antenna from the 1987 PAVE PAWS EWR in Texas (groundbreaking 16 April 1998, for the "Clear Radar Upgrade") After the Fylingdales BMEWS radars had been replaced by Raytheon/
Cossor AeroSpace A.C. Cossor Ltd. was a British electronics company founded in 1859. The company's products included valves, radios, televisions and military electronics. The company was purchased by Raytheon in 1961. Early history The story of A.C. Cossor Ltd ...
and
Control Data Corporation Control Data Corporation (CDC) was a mainframe and supercomputer company that in the 1960s was one of the nine major U.S. computer companies, which group included IBM, the Burroughs Corporation, and the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), the N ...
(embedded CDC-Cyber computer) at a cost of US $100M, in February 1995 the "missile warning center at Cheyenne Mountain AS asundergoing a $450 million upgrade program". The entire SSPARS became operational on 31 January 2001 when the "SSPARS Site" at Clear AFS (separate from the BMEWS site) had
Initial Operational 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 ...
. The Clear AN/FPS-120 was subsequently "upgraded to the AN/FPS-123 model" SSPA Radar, and the SSPARS was modified in the Early Warning Radar Service Life Extension Program The US approved sale of an AN/FPS-115 to Taiwan in 2000 and it was introduced in 2006.
The UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
BMEWS stations became SSPARS radar stations when their respective Raytheon AN/FPS-126 radar and 2001 Raytheon AN/FPS-120 became operational. In 2007, 100 owners/trustees of amateur radio repeaters 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.
BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
began a 2007 contract for SSPARS maintenance. The SSPARS radar electronics was subsequently upgraded, e.g., the Beale radar and the Fylingdales FPS-126 each became an
AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar The Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPARS), colloquially Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar network (BMEWS radar network), is a United States Space Force radar, computer, and communications system for missile warning and space ...
(UEWR) by Raytheon. The Beale AN/FPS-123 was upgraded to a Raytheon AN/FPS-132 (UEWR) with capabilities to operate in the
Ground-based Midcourse Defense Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD), previously National Missile Defense (NMD), is an anti-ballistic missile system implemented by the United States of America for defense against ballistic missiles, during the midcourse phase of ballistic t ...
(GMD) ABM system—the Beale UEWR included "Avionics", "T/R modules", "FEX/TTG", "BSG", "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 A request for information (RFI) is a common business process whose purpose is to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers. Normally it follows a format that can be used for comparative purposes. An RFI is primarily ...
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 the Cape Cod installation in 2013. The AN/FPS-132 Block-5 was ordered by the
Qatar Emiri Air Force The Qatar Emiri Air Force () (QEAF) is the air arm of the armed forces of the state of Qatar. It was established in 1974 as a small aerial support wing, although in modern times it has evolved into a potent, well equipped force. The QEAF is head ...
, and is in construction.


System overview

* Solid-state
phased-array radar 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 ...
** Each radar installation has multiple faces, where each face provides a 120-degree coverage. * Operating frequency:
Ultra high frequency Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
(UHF) * Range: 3,000 miles


Locations

Active: *
Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base in Yuba County, California, Yuba County, California. It is outside Linda, California, Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville, California, Marysville and Yuba City, and abo ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
*
RAF Fylingdales Royal Air Force Fylingdales (RAF Fylingdales) is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its motto is ''Vigilamus'' ("We are watching"). It is a radar Military base, base and i ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
*
Thule Site J Thule Site J (J-Site) is a United States Space Force (USSF) radar station in Greenland near Pituffik Space Base for missile warning and United States Space Surveillance Network, spacecraft tracking. The northernmost station of the Solid State ...
(
Pituffik Space Base Pituffik Space Base ( ; ; ), formerly Thule Air Base (), is a United States Space Force base located on the northwest coast of Greenland in the Kingdom of Denmark under a defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. 150 United Stat ...
),
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
Planned: * Clear Space Force Station,
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
*
Cape Cod Space Force 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 Bourne, Massachusetts. Cape Cod Space Force Station began construction in 1976 as Cape ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
*
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
Qatar long-range radar purchase moves forward
Jeremy Burnie,
Jane's Defence Weekly ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' (abbreviated as ''JDW'') is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who ...
, 13 December 2016, accessed 2017-01-11


References


See Also

*
List of radars A radar is an electronic system used to determine and detect the range of target and maps various types of targets. This is a list of radars. Argentina Australia Brazil Egypt Europe India Military Airborne *LCA MMR - 3D advanced, li ...
*
List of military electronics of the United States This article lists American military electronic instruments/systems along with brief descriptions. This list specifically identifies electronic devices which are assigned designations according to the Joint Electronics Type Designation System ...
{{AN/FPS 1987 in military history 2001 in military history Early warning systems Computer systems of the United States Air Force Equipment of the United States Space Force Military radar networks United States Space Surveillance Network Military electronics of the United States