Cartwright Air Station

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

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:

• Cut Throat Island Air Station (N-27A): 54°29′47″N 057°08′00″W / 54.49639°N 57.13333°W / 54.49639; -57.13333 (N-27A)
• Spotted Island Air Station (N-27B): 53°31′05″N 055°44′56″W / 53.51806°N 55.74889°W / 53.51806; -55.74889 (N-27B)
• Fox Harbour Air Station (N-27C): 52°22′12″N 055°39′52″W / 52.37000°N 55.66444°W / 52.37000; -55.66444 (N-27C)

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

Units

• 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

• 4707th Air Defense Wing (ADC), 26 May 1953
• Northeast Air Command, 1 October 1953
• 4732d Air Defense Group (ADC), 1 April 1957
• Goose Air Defense Sector, 1 April 1960
• 37th Air Division, 1 April 1966 – 18 June 1968^[2]

North Warning System

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

• United States general surveillance radar stations

References

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

• 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.

External links

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Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)

Bases

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Overseas

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Overseas

Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cape Makkovik Cartwright Cut Throat Island Elliston Ridge Fox Harbour Hofn Hopedale Kamloops La Scie Langanes Latrar Melville Puntzi Mountain Ramore Red Cliff Rockville Saglek St. Anthony Saskatoon Mountain Sioux Lookout Spotted Island Stephenville

Air
Defense
units

Forces	Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth
Air Divisions	8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th
Sectors	Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington
Wings	Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th
Groups	Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th
Squadrons	Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons

Major
weapon
systems

Electronic	TB-29 EB-57 EC-121
Fighters	Propeller: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106
Missiles	AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10
Ships	Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil
Texas Towers	Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4

Miscellaneous

• Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons)
• General Surveillance Radar Stations