San Nicolas Island USN Radar Site

 (1960s-Active) - A U.S. Navy (USN) Long Range Radar (LRR) site first established in the 1960s on San Nicolas Island, Ventura County, California. The site is 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. Active USN Radar Site.

History
This site became a USN radar site in the 1960s, furnishing radar track data to the USN facilities and to the Western Test Range facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The initial ARSR-1 search radar remained in operation until it was replaced with an ARSR-3 radar and that was later modified to become a CARSR radar. There is some indication that the ARSR-3 was a new installation and that the ARSR-1 was left in place where it remains today.

The use of FAA developed radars in the Western Test Range both on San Nicolas Island and at Vandenberg AFB may be tied to the use of air traffic controllers to manage the airspace over the range from the Area Control Center (ACC) Air Controller Display Position (ACDP) Consoles.

By 1981 the site was equipped with an ARSR-1D search radar and a FYQ-47 or FYQ-49 Common Digitizer. The site was reportedly data-tied into the Joint Surveillance System (post 9/11) but it is unclear if the site feeds data to any FAA ARTCCs. This site does not appear in available FAA lists of sites.

CARSR Radar
The CARSR radar was reportedly commissioned on 17 Sep 2013.

{| width="800px"
 * valign="top" width="60%" |
 * valign="top" width="60%" |

Current Status
Active USN facility on San Nicolas Island in Ventura County, California. No public access.

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

Sources:

Links:
 * Global Security - San Nicolas Island Island
 * Radomes - San Nicolas Island USN Radar Site
 * Wikipedia - Joint Surveillance System
 * California Military Museum - San Nicolas Island Island