El Paso FAA Radar Site

 (1963-1990) - A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Long=Range Radar (LLR) site established in 1963 near Horizon City, El Paso County, Texas. The site was used to identify and track military and civilian aircraft movements within a 200-mile radius and to provide air-ground radio communication with those aircraft. Assigned a SAGE System ID of Z-228 and later Z-244 and still later a Joint Surveillance System (JSS) ID of J-27. Deactivated circa 1997.

History
This site became an FAA radar site in 1963, furnishing radar track data to the FAA ARTCC's and to USAF Direction Centers. The initial FAA ARSR-1 search radar remained in operation and it was modified to become an ARSR-1E.

In 1972 a USAF FPS-90 Height-Finder radar was installed at this site to provide target height information to the newly formed Southern Air Defense Sector (SADS). SADS operated from the Houston Manual NORAD Control Center co-located with the Houston ARTCC. The FPS-90 height-finder was maintained and operated by Detachment OL-AH of the 4629th Air Defense Squadron from Luke AFB in Phoenix, Arizona. The FPS-90 later became an FPS-116 before being removed circa 1988.

By 1990 the site was equipped with a Common Digitizer CD-2A and an ARSR-1E search radar. The El Paso CD-2A was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in July 1992. The site was shown as connected to the Albuquerque ARTCC.

This site was deactivated circa 1997 after the activation of the Eagle Peak FAA Radar Site (J-27A) and the Deming FAA Radar Site (J-28A). Both of these sites were equipped with the new ARSR-4 3D radars.

Current Status
Closed and in private hands. The FAA building has been repurposed but remains intact, both radar towers are gone.

{| See Also:
 * Albuquerque ARTCC
 * Houston ARTCC
 * JSS System
 * FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers
 * US Radar Sets

Sources:
 * , page 158.
 * FAA - Site Listing of Legacy Radars as of 23 Dec 2016
 * FAA - Site Listing of Legacy Radars as of 23 Dec 2016

Links:
 * Radomes - El Paso FAA Radar Site
 * Wikipedia - Joint Surveillance System