Cavalier Air Force Station
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2012) |
| Cavalier Air Force Station
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| Part of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) | |
| Beaulieu Township, Pembina County, northwest of Mountain, North Dakota | |
 PARCS antenna array at Cavalier AFS |
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| Type | Air Force Station |
| Coordinates | 48°43′55″N 97°54′16″W / 48.73194°N 97.90444°W |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
| Garrison | 10th Space Warning Squadron |
Cavalier Air Force Station is a United States Air Force installation in Pembina County, North Dakota, home to the 10th Space Warning Squadron of the 21st Space Wing based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
The station is located approximately 5 km north and 3 km west of Mountain, about 20 km from Cavalier.
Mission
The station monitors and tracks potential missile launches against North America with an AN/FPQ-16 Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System (PARCS).
In addition, PARCS monitors and tracks over half of all earth-orbiting objects to enable space situation awareness and space control.
Both American and Canadian military members are assigned to the facility, as well as contractor employees.
AN/FPQ-16 PARCS
The AN/FPQ-16 PARCS is a phased array radar system housed in a 37 m (121 ft) tall structure which continuously provides critical missile warning and space surveillance data to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), and regional combatant commanders.[1]
Its single-faced phased array radar is pointed northward over Hudson Bay.[2] In normal operation PARCS can spot an object the size of a basketball (24 cm) at 3000 km (2000 miles). Tests during the 1970s & 1980s showed that with proposed software updates (Not carried out) it could spot objects less than 9 cm in size.[3] It analyzes more than 20 000 tracks per day, from giant satellites to space debris.[2]
Chronology
- 1976: Safeguard system is deactivated.
- 1977: USAF acquires the former PAR, using the name Concrete Missile Early Warning System (CMEWS) (named for the hamlet of Concrete, N.D., just west of the PAR site).[4]
- 1983: With the closing of the post office at Concrete, N.D., the name is changed to Cavalier Air Force Station (named for the town of Cavalier, N.D., 11 miles east of the site).
- 1993: Name shortened to Cavalier Air Station.
- 2000: Name changed back to Cavalier Air Force Station.
Previous Designations
- Cavalier Air Force Station (2000–present)
- Cavalier Air Station (1993–2000)
- Cavalier Air Force Station (1983–1993)
- Concrete Missile Early Warning System (1977–1983)
Photo gallery
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Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System (PARCS)
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Mangy Moose Base Club
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Inside the Mangy Moose Club
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Cavalier AFB Bowling Alley
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Cavalier AFS sign
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Rear of PARCS Structure
References
- ^ "10th Space Warning Squadron". Peterson Air Force Base. Retrieved August 2012.
- ^ a b Kuhn, Tom (March, 1999). "On The Lone Prairie". Airman Magazine. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007. Retrieved March 2013.
- ^ "Space Surveillance Sensors: The PARCS (Cavalier) Radar (April 12, 2012)". MostlyMissileDefense.com. Retrieved August 2012.
- ^ Jim Godfrey. "Cavalier Air Force Station: Instant to Watchful Instant". Peterson Air Force Base. Retrieved August 2012.
External links
- Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Nekoma vicinity, Cavalier, ND at the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)
- Perimiter Acquisition Radar (PAR) Complex, at the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex History Page.
- Chapter 8: Perimeter Acquisition Radar, ABM Research and Development at Bell Laboratories: Project History at the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex History Page.
- Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR), Concrete, ND. Article at the Cold War Tourist website.
Coordinates: 48°43′55″N 97°54′16″W / 48.731908°N 97.904406°W
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