Lashup Radar Network

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with
late 1950s SAGE 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"[1] and preceded the "high Priority Permanent System".[2]: 61  ROTOR was a similar expedient system in the United Kingdom.

Background

United States electronic attack warning began with a 1939 networking demonstration at

SAC radar stations, e.g., at Dallas & Denver
Bomb Plots).

Radar Fence

For the unmanned microwave "fence" ("trip wire") that signalled when something flew by (even flocks of geese), see Mid-Canada (McGill) Line.

The Radar Fence was a planned U.S.

Air Defense Command (ADC) rejected Supremacy since "no provision was made in it for the Alaska to Greenland net with flanks guarded by aircraft and picket ships [required] for 3 to 6 hours of warning time",[5]: 129  and "Congress failed to act on legislation[specify] required to support the proposed system."[5] In the spring and summer of 1947, 3 ADC Aircraft Control and Warning (AC&W) plans had gone unfunded.[2]
: 53 

Lashup planning

In November 1947 ADC "decided to go ahead with implementation [using] AC&W assets…ADC possessed."[2]: 53  The January 1, 1948, Finletter Commission report "while recognizing the need for a radar early-warning system, cautioned against the extraordinary expense of such a system, if constructed, to provide total coverage."[7]: 76  The ADC commander "was ordered on 23 April 1948 to establish with his current resources [the initial networks with] AC&W systems in the Northwestern United States, the Northeastern United States, and the Albuquerque, New Mexico, areas, in that priority."[8] The "first air defense division organization", the 25th Air Division, was established October 25, 1948, "at Silver Lake (Everett), Washington", the 26th Air Division was activated at Mitchell Field NY on November 16, and both were transferred to ADC on April 1, 1949.[5]: 221 

Lashup deployment

"Lashup I" was a stopgap

Air Force Pentagon post and the White House."[3]
: 133 

Sites in the network

The 44 Lashup radar stations in April 1950 were 23 in the Northeast/Great Lakes areas, 10 in the

ground-controlled intercept (GCI) center (e.g., Roslyn Air Warning Station's
Manual Control Center in New York).

Palermo Air Force Station
Portland Air National Guard Base
Fort Meade radar station
Highlands Air Force Station
Selfridge AFB radar station

Snelling Air Force Station

Fort Williams
Cape Charles Air Force Station

Lashup equipment

Lashup used improved systems that included the

Bendix AN/FPS-3 Radar
used in the Lashup network was ready for installation in late 1950.

Replacement planning

The Interim Program and its First Augmentation were planned to replace Lashup with a larger radar network "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").

TM-187 in TX
.

Early June 1950 exercises "in the

Ground Observation Corps filter centers (7 in the west, 19 in the east) were being installed,[3] and by November 10 a separate Air Defense Command headquarters at Ent AFB was approved[3]: 140  (the Federal Civil Defense Administration was created in December 1950.)[2]: 59  On June 13, 1951, the government released $20 million for construction of permanent radar stations,[3]: 160  and the "original construction program for the Permanent System" was completed in May 1952.[2]
: 61 

Lashup phaseout

Phaseout of Lashup radar stations began in January 1952[

SAGE CDTS sites in 1963,[15] 66 "long-range radars" in 1981,[3]: 268  and 41 JSS stations in 1985).[16]

See also

References

  1. ^
    CONAD
    . (cited by Volume I, p. 132)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Chapter II: American Strategy for Air and Ballistic Missile Defense". History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense, 1945–1955: Volume I. pp. 37–68.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-912799-60-9
    . Retrieved 2011-09-26.
  4. ^ [1]
    Arlington WA
    Palos Verdes Estates CA*
    B-5 La Jolla CA a.k.a. Mount Soledad*
    B-30 Lompoc CA probably Point Arguelo
    B-78 Mill Valley CA a.k.a. Mt Tamalpais
    B-85 Carmel CA a.k.a. Point Sur
    J-23 Seaside, OR a.k.a. Tillamook Head
    J-41 Santa Catalina Island CA a.k.a. Camp Cactus
    J-42 San Nicolas Island CA
    J-55 Neah Bay WA a.k.a. Bahokus Peak
    J-77 Olema CA a.k.a. Point Reyes
    J-77 Gualala CA a.k.a. Point Arena
    J-80 Montara CA a.k.a. Point Montara
    L-1 Oceanside CA
    L-6 Otay Mesa CA a.k.a. Border Field 6
    L-35 Point Hueneme CA
    L-82 Half Moon Bay CA
    • not operational but in "guard" (probably caretaker) status[dead link]
  5. ^ a b c d e f g History of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense, 1945-1955: Volume I (PDF). 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.
  6. ^ Montauk AFS History. Radomes.org. Retrieved on 2013-09-18.
  7. ^ "Chapter 3: Planning for Air Defense in the Postwar Era". Emerging Shield. pp. 47-81 (pdf pp. 62-96).
  8. ^ ADC Historical Division. The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954 (USAF Historical Study No. 126). Maxwell AFB, Alabama. p. 20. (quote from Volume I, Chapter 2, p. 54; which cites Study No. 126.)
  9. ^ a b Chronology of Blue Air Defense Systems. (cited by Volume I, p. 132)
  10. ^ LASHUP Radar System. Radomes.org. Retrieved on 2013-09-18.
  11. tbd
    . (Figure 3 in History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense, Volume I 1945-1955)
  12. ^ Nelson, Maj Gen Morris R. (June 12, 1950), subj: Employment of an American Version of CDS, USAFHRC microfilm{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (cited by Schaffel pdf p. 311)
  13. ^ "On 1 December 1953, the site designation was changed to LP-45 and the Air Force facilities were renamed Montauk Air Force Station. Montauk AFS was incorporated into the permanent ADC network of General Surveillance Radar Stations. (unsourced claim at Montauk Air Force Station wikipage)
  14. ^ Winkler, David F; Webster, Julie L (June 1997). Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program (PDF) (Report). U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
  15. ^ Gray, George (March 1999). "Some Burroughs Transistor Computers". GAtech.edu. Archived from the original (Wikipedia-styled webpage) on 2016-10-01. Retrieved 2010-01-24. When the [SAGE] system was complete, 134 of these data communications devices had been installed.
  16. ^ Defensive Watch. Airforce-magazine.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-18.
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