The Fort Meade radar station was an air defence radar installation used by the Army and USAF. The site operated c. 1950 until 1979 and had a Project Nike command post and radar network.
| Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) | |
|---|---|
| Baltimore, Maryland, Fort George G. Meade, Anne Arundel, Maryland | |
| Coordinates | 39°45′12″N 75°27′00″W / 39.753393°N 75.450068°W |
| Type | Fort |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1959-60* September 1966 |
Lashup site L-14
editSite L-14 of the temporary Lashup Radar Network was the ground-controlled interception radar station established at Fort George G. Meade until the radar's surveillance area was covered by a Quantico AFS radar in 1955. The Fort Meade radar station also had the first experimental AN/GSG-2 Antiaircraft Defense System in 1955.[1]
ARAACOM site W-13DC
editIn 1957 the Fort Meade station was designated an Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) for the Washington-Baltimore Defense Area.[2] The site had the first operational Martin AN/FSG-I Antiaircraft Defense System, a fire distribution center for Nike Missiles and which was operated by the 35th Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade.[3] Designated W-13DC, the site had an AN/FPS-67 search radar and later a solid-state Hughes AN/TSQ-51 Air Defense Command and Coordination System.[4] After 1957, Fort Meade became the Headquarters, 2nd Region, Army Air Defense Command.
ADC site RP-54
editOn October 1, 1961, W-13DC was integrated[clarification needed] with the Aerospace Defense Command network as replacement site RP-54 operated by the USAF's 770th Airborne Control and Warning Squadron that transferred from former site P-54 at Palermo Air Force Station, New Jersey. Site RP-54 became part of the 1957 Washington Air Defense Sector) with an interface with the DC-04 SAGE system direction center at Fort Lee Air Force Station (inactivated March 1, 1983).
NORAD site Z-227
editOn July 1, 1963, the station was redesignated as site Z-227 (Palermo AFS re-opened as site Z-54), and the USAF unit was renamed the 770th Radar Squadron assuming control of the AN/FPS-67 and installing one each AN/FPS-6 and AN/FPS-6B height-finder radars by 1962. In 1964 an AN/FPS-90 replaced Meade's AN/FPS-6B, and the AN/FPS-6 was shut down; while in 1966 the AN/FPS-67 was upgraded to an AN/FPS-67B.[5][verification needed]
In addition to an annex at the former Manassas Air Force Station,[6] the Fort Meade radar station had unmanned AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler annexes at Hermanville, Maryland (RP-54A/Z-227A, 38°13′40″N 076°24′33″W / 38.22778°N 76.40917°W) and Hanover, Pennsylvania (RP-54B/Z-227B, 39°51′28″N 076°56′52″W / 39.85778°N 76.94778°W).[citation needed] The Washington AADCPs at Suitland & Ft Meade were deactivated on September 1, 1974; and USAF air defense operations at Ft Meade ended October 1, 1979 (a plan to use the site in the 1983 Joint Surveillance System was not implemented).[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ Bender, Donald E (December 1999). "The Pedricktown Missile Master Site, 1960-1966". Quarterly Newsletter. Salem County Historical Society. Archived from the original (FDU.edu website) on 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Missile Master News Release-1". United States Army. December 5, 1957. Archived from the original (transcript) on March 23, 2012. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
- ^ Cole, Merle T. "Army Air Defense Installations in Anne Arundel County: 1950-1975". Nike Missiles. FTMeade.Army.mil. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- ^ Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W. A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980. Peterson Air Force Base: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center.
- ^ "Information for Fort Meade, MD". Radomes.org. Retrieved 2011-09-02.