Ellington Air Force Base Radar Site

 (1952-1969) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station established during the Korean War. Originally located on the former Ellington Air Force Base near Houston, Harris County, Texas. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-79, a Sage ID of Z-79 and a JSS ID of J-15. A Sage ID of Z-240 was assigned when SAGE inputs were resumed circa 1974. Closed as a USAF radar site in 1969 and became a FAA radar site that is still operational.

History
Established in 1952 and became operational in April 1952 as the Ellington Air Force Base Radar Site manned by the 747th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron.

Initial equipment included two FPS-10 radar sets, one serving as a search radar and one used as a height-finder radar.

A FPS-8 was installed in 1955 and later modified to become a GPS-3. This set operated until 1960 when a FAA ARSR-1A search radar was installed. The FAA ARSR-1A was upgraded to a ARSR-1E in 1964.

A FPS-6 height-finder radar set replaced the FPS-10 being used as a height-finder radar in 1957.

Deactivation
On 29 Oct 1969 the Pentagon publicly announced cutbacks in military forces and facilities that included inactivating the 747th AC&W Squadron at Ellington by January 1970. The 747th AC&W Squadron was deactivated on 31 Dec 1969 but the FAA continued to operated and maintain the ARSR-1 on the site.

Follow on USAF Operations
In late 1972 a detachment of the 630th Radar Squadron began to operate a FPS-90 height-finder radar at the FAA Site. The FPS-90 was modified to become a FPS-116 about 1977 and was removed about 1988. The USAF limited use of the site ceased sometime in the 1990s when the Morales ARSR-4 became operational and tied into the JSS System. Data tied USAF use resumed following 9/11, 2001.

Houston FAA Radar Site
The Houston FAA Radar site began equipment operation about 1960 with the installation of an FAA ARSR-1A search radar. That radar was upgraded to an ARSR-1E in 1964. The FAA continued to operate the ARSR-1E after the departure of the 747th AC&W Squadron in 1969.

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 elements of the OL-AC 630th Radar Squadron and in 1975 by OL-AG of the 678th Air Defense Squadron. The FPS-90 later became an FPS-116 before being removed circa 1988.

By 1990 the site was equipped with an ARSR-1E search radar and a CD-2C Common Digitizer. The Houston CD-2C was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in August 1992.

CARSR Radar
The Houston CARSR radar became operational in 2011.

Gap Fillers
Ellington AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites between 1960 and 1964. The Ellington AFS gap-filler radars were located at Fannett and Van Vleck, Texas.

Current Status
Active FAA Radar site.

See Also:
 * Houston ARTCC
 * SAGE System
 * JSS System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets

Sources:
 * , page 101.
 * , page 156.


 * , page 49.
 * Ellington Air Force Base
 * Ellington Air Force Base

Links:
 * Radomes - Ellington Air Force Base Radar Site