St. Anthony Air Station

 (1953-1968) - A Cold War Pinetree Line Air Force Radar Station first established in 1953 near St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador. Named St. Anthony Air Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of N-26 and Later C-26. Abandoned in 1968.

921st AC&W Squadron
Constructed 1951 to 1953 and became operational in November 1953 as St. Anthony Air Station manned by the 921st 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 and FPS-502 search radars and a TPS-502 height-finder radar. The search radar was later upgraded to an FPS-20 and then to an FPS-93A. An FPS-6 height-finder radar was installed.

Closure
St. Anthony AS radar equipment operation was terminated at 2030 hours on 31 Mar 1968, per ADC PAD 68-4. The 921st AC&W Squadron was deactivated on 18 Jun 1968.

Gap Fillers
St. Anthony AS was responsible for the maintenance of one remote manned gap-filler radar site at La Scie Air Station. Manned by the Det. 2, 921st AC&W Squadron. The gap-filler sites were placed in locations where the main search radar lacked coverage. An OA-947 Gap Filler Monitor was installed at St. Anthony AFS allowing the operations personnel to remotely monitor tracks picked up by the gap-filler at La Scie AS. Tracks picked up by the FPS-14 gap-filler radar were processed by the FST-1 Coordinate Data Transmitter and sent over phone lines to the OA-947 at St. Anthony AS.

Physical Plant
The physical plant of the site was divided into the main site, a cantonment area, a housing area and a radio site. The main site housed the operations buildings, the radar towers, and the backup generators. The cantonment area was adjacent to the main site and housed the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, the dining hall, the motor pool and other support buildings.

Current Status
Abandoned near St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador.

See Also:
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Pinetree Line

Sources:
 * , page 104.

Links:
 * Radomes - St. Anthony Air Station
 * Wikipedia - St. Anthony Air Station
 * Pinetree Line - St. Anthony AFS