Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site

Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site (1952-1969) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1952 on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-75 and later a Sage ID of Z-75. Abandoned as an Air Force Radar Site in 1969 and operated after that by the FAA as Lackland FAA Radar Site aka San Antonio FAA Radar Site with an FAA ID of SAT. Closed in 2011. Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site. All that Remains, Power Bldg. Center, Radio Bldg. Back Left. History Established in 1952 and became operational in 1952 as Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site manned by the 741st AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning mission. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifying all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any identified enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course and speed to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio. Initial equipment included the FPS-3 search radar and an FPS-4 height-finder radar. The single FPS-4 height-finder radar was replaced by two FPS-6 sets in 1958. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-20A and the site radar data was being shared with the FAA. Gap Filler Radar Sites In 1960 the Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site was responsible for the maintenance of one remote unattended gap-filler radar site. The gap-filler sites were placed in locations where the main search radar lacked coverage. These sites sent digitized radar target data directly to a direction center. Maintenance teams were dispatched from the Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. The Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site gap-filler radar was located at Mason, Texas. Lackland AFB Gap Filler Radar Sites (edit list) ADC NORAD Location State Type From To GPS Notes P-75A Z-75A Mason TX FPS-18, FST-1 1960 1960 30.562444, -99.447241 Closure The Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site and the 741st were deactivated on 31 Dec 1969 and the FAA took over operation of the site. Lackland FAA Radar Site The FAA continued to operate a reduced site with the existing FPS-66A search radar feeding radar track data to the Houston ARTCC. In 1972, the newly reactivated 630th Radar Squadron at Houston sent a detachment to the Lackland FAA site to operate an FPS-6 height-finder alongside the in place FPS-66A. The site then fed radar track data from both sets to the newly created Southern Air Defense Sector (SADS) manual direction center that was colocated with the Houston ARTCC. See the Houston ARTCC for background information regarding the events that triggered the creation of the Southern Air Defense Sector and direction center. The site was then given a SAGE System designation of Z-241. A FYQ-47 Common Digitizer was probably placed in service by February 1973 when the USAF/FAA FST-2 to FYQ-47 replacement program was completed. By 1990 the site was equipped with an FPS-66A search radar and a CD-2A Common Digitizer. The Lackland CD-2A was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in August 1992. The FAA stopped using the site search radar data about 2001 and the site became a beacon only site (BOS) until 2011 when all operations ceased and the site was abandoned. Lackland AFB Radar Site Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems IFF/SIF FPS-3 FPS-18 GF FPS-20A FPS-91A FAA FPS-66A FAA FPS-4 FPS-6 FPS-6A FST-1 GF FYQ-47 FAA CD-2 FAA ATCBI-6 FAA Unit Designations 741st Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1952-1969) 741st Assignments 1 Feb 1953 activated at Lackland AFB, TX, as the 33rd Air Division. 1 Jan 60 transferred to Oklahoma City ADS. 1 Sep 1961 transferred to 4752nd Air Defense Wing. 25 Jun 1963 transferred to Oklahoma City ADS. 1 Apr 1966 reassigned to 31st Air Division. 31 Dec 1969 inactivated. Current Status The Air Force site closed in 1969 and the last vestiges of FAA operations ended in 2010. The radome and support buildings have been removed except for two small buildings, the radio building and the power building. Location: Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas. Maps & Images Lat: 29.38803 Long: -98.63332 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 787' GPS Locations: 29.38803, -98.63332 Lackland AFB Radar Site See Also: Houston ARTCC JSS System Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets Lackland Air Force Base Sources: Department of Defense Appropriations for 1974: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-third Congress, First Session, United States. Congress, pt. 5, U.S. Government Printing Office, Google Books 1973 Pages 770-773 Southern Air Defense Pages 774- Retention of one active BUIC and 11 semi-active Cornett, Lloyd H. & Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization (1946-1980), Office of History ADC, Peterson AFB, Colorado, 31 Dec 1980, 179 pages, Pdf, page 100. 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 156. FAA - Site Listing of Legacy Radars as of 23 Dec 2016. U.S. DoT - Recommendation on Transition from Primary/Secondary Radar to Secondary-Only Radar Capability 1994. FAA - Three Level Weather For ARTCC Displays - Project Implementation Plan, FAA Order 7110.14A, 14 Feb 1990. FAA - SSR/DMTI Modification - Project Implementation Plan, FAA Order 6340.20, 6 Jul 1988. Links: Bad Links /cgi-bin/museum/acwinfo2x.cgi?site=%22Lackland+AFB,+TX%22&key=LacklandAFBTX&pic=LacklandAFBTX&doc=LacklandAFBTX Lackland Air Force Base Radar Site] Visited: 20 May 2015