FPS-115 Long-Range Missile Detection Radar Set - A Long-Range Missile Detection Radar set built by Raytheon in the late 1970s. Designed to detect sea-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). Deployed in a system called Pave Paws.
The initial concept had two FPS-115 systems deployed in the continental United States in 1980, one on the east coast at Cape Cod AFS and one on the west coast at Beale AFB. The concept expanded in the mid-1980s with two more sites, one at Dobbins AFB Georgia and one at Eldorado AFS, Texas. Coincident with the end of the Cold War both of the later sites were closed in 1995. The equipment at Eldorado AFS, was relocated to Clear AFS, Alaska to replace the FPS-50.
Additional FPS-115 Pave Paws radars were installed in the 1990s at BMEWS sites at Thule, Greenland, and Fylingdale Moor, England.
Pave Paws Computer Maintenance Operations Center, showing duplexed cyber 170-174 computers
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Beale AFB Pave Paws Radar Antenna Elements.
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FPS-115 Missile Detection Radar
FPS-115 Missile Detection Radar
Element
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Value
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Notes
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Nomenclature |
FPS-115 |
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Origins |
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Variants |
FPS-120 FPS-123 FPS-132 |
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Manufacturer |
Raytheon |
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Type |
Missile Detection |
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Number Made |
4 |
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IEEE Band |
UHF |
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Frequency |
420-450 MHz |
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PRF |
.02 to 20 Hz |
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Pulse Width |
250 to 16,000 us |
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Rotation Speed |
Phased Arrays |
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Power |
600kw 150kw |
Peak (per face} Average
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Range |
3,000nmi~ |
Long Range
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Altitude |
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Introduced |
1979 |
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FPS-115 Missile Detection Radar Variants
Site
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Faces
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FPS-115
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FPS-120
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FPS-121
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FPS-123
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FPS-126
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FPS-132
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Notes
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Beale |
2 |
4 Apr 1980 |
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??? |
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FY14 |
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Cape Cod |
2 |
15 Aug 1980 |
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??? |
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FY16 |
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Thule |
2 |
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2QFY87 |
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FY14 |
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Flyingdales |
3 |
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1992 |
FY14 |
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Clear |
2 |
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31 Jan 2001 |
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??? |
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FY16 |
From Dobbins
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Eldorado |
2 |
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1987-1995 |
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To Clear AFS
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Dobbins |
2 |
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1986-1995 |
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Closed
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See Also:
Sources:
- Winkler, David F., Searching the Skies: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, USAF Hq Air Combat Command, 1997, 192 pages, Pdf, page 54-56, 86, 105, 111, 122, 158.
Links:
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