Jump to content

Cartwright Air Station

Coordinates: 53°43′28″N 056°57′51″W / 53.72444°N 56.96417°W / 53.72444; -56.96417 (Cartwright AS N-27)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cartwright Air Station
Part of Pinetree Line
Labrador, Canada
Emblem of the 922d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
Cartwright Air Station is located in Newfoundland and Labrador
Cartwright Air Station
Cartwright Air Station
Cartwright Air Station is located in Canada
Cartwright Air Station
Cartwright Air Station
Coordinates53°43′28″N 056°57′51″W / 53.72444°N 56.96417°W / 53.72444; -56.96417 (Cartwright AS N-27)
TypeRadar Station
Site information
Controlled byNortheast Air Command
Aerospace Defense Command
Site history
Built1953
Built byUnited States Air Force
In use1953-1968

Cartwright Air Station (ADC ID: N-27) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 233.7 km (145.2 mi) east-northeast of CFB Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.[1] It was closed in 1968.

History

[edit]

The site was established in 1953 as a General Surveillance Radar station, funded by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was used initially by the Northeast Air Command, which stationed the 922d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on the station on 1 October 1953. 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.[2]

It was equipped with the following radars:

  • Search Radar: AN/FPS-3C, AN/FPS-502, AN/FPS-20A, AN/FPS-87A, AN/FPS-93A
  • Height Radar: AN/TPS-502, AN/FPS-6B, AN/FPS-90

The station was reassigned to the USAF Air Defense Command on 1 April 1957, and was given designation "N-27". In 1963, the site was connected to the Manual Data Center at Goose AFB.[2]

In addition to the main facility, Cartwright operated several AN/FPS-14 manned Gap Filler sites:

On 18 June 1968, the USAF transferred control of the site to the Canadian Armed Forces. It was inactivated, closed and the remains of the station are abandoned.

USAF units and assignments

[edit]

Units

[edit]
  • 922d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, activated at Grenier AFB, New Hampshire, 26 May 1953
Moved to Cartwright Air Station, 1 October 1953
Discontinued,18 June 1968

Assignments

[edit]

North Warning System

[edit]

A long range AN/FPS-117 surveillance radar site, Cartwright Long Range Radar Site, was built 21.7 km (13.5 mi) south of Cartwright Air Station in November 1998 as part of the North Warning System to cover any Long Range Radar surveillance gaps. The new site (LAB-6) consists of a radar towers, communications facility, and storage and tunnel connected buildings for personnel.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ^ The CADIN Pinetree Line Radar Sites
  2. ^ a b c "Information for Cartwright AS, NL". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  • A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946–1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
  • Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
[edit]