Key West NAS Radar Site

 (1962-Active) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1962 near Key West, Monroe County, Florida. Named Key West NAS Radar Site after the location. Initially assigned a Sage ID of Z-209, a JSS ID of J-07 and an FAA ID of NQX. Active FAA Radar Site.

History
Established in 1962 and became operational in 1962 as Key West NAS Radar Site manned by the 671st AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercepan t (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.

The site was incorporated into the BUIC I system as a NORAD Control Center in 1962. This was a manual back-up interceptor control system that provided limited command and control capability in the event the SAGE System was disabled. This allowed the site to operate independently should it become isolated.

Initial equipment included an in-place Navy FPS-37 search radar (which shares many components with the FPS-8 radar). This radar was considered a pre-SAGE System radar and by 1966 it had been replaced by a SAGE compatible FPS-67B.

SAGE System Operation
The Key West radar site began operation as a SAGE System site on 1 Jun 1962 initially feeding the Gunter SAGE Direction Center DC-09.

Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962)
In October 1962 the Cuban Missile crisis began with the installation of Russian missiles on Cuban soil. A series of escalations put the United States and Russia at the edge of war with a U.S. embargo on shipping into Cuba. During this period all U.S. Radar sites were on high alert and the Key West NAS Radar Site provided surveillance over much of western Cuba and coverage of southern Florida. The missile crisis was averted but it had demonstrated the need for radar coverage of this critical area.

A U.S. Army Hawk missile battery was deployed on the Key West NAS during the missile crisis and data was shared with them. The Army AADCP site was designated KW-18DC.

SAGE System Operation
It was not until the search radar was upgraded to an FPS-67B and two FPS-90 height-finder radars were installed that the site had a normal SAGE site configuration. At this point, the 761st AC&W Squadron was redesignated 671st Radar Sq (SAGE) on 15 Jun 1965. This is probably close after the date that full automatic operation was achieved.

Prior to the closure of the Gunter SAGE Direction Center DC-09 on 31 Dec 1969, the site was switched to control by the Fort Lee SAGE Direction Center DC-04 on 14 Nov 1969. The vacuum tube FST-2 coordinate data transmitter was replaced with the solid-state FYQ-47 Common Digitizer circa 1972.

Radar Squadron Deactivation (1980)
In 1979 Air Defense Command and all its remaining radar sites were transferred to the Tactical Air Command. A reorganization followed and the 671st Radar Squadron was deactivated on 30 Jun 1980, replaced by the 20th Air Defense Squadron, Operating Location Alpha Juliet (OL-AJ) who operated remaining USAF equipment including the height finder(s).

Key West FAA Radar Site
With the deactivation of the 671st Radar Squadron on 30 Jun 1980, the FAA assumed operation of the radar site within a small compound. In 1982 the FPS-90 height finder was supported by USAF operating location OLAJ 20th ADS with 6 USAF operations personnel. The last USAF height-finder was removed circa 1988 leaving the search radar a beacon set and a common digitizer under FAA operation and maintenance.

By 1990 the site was equipped with a CD-2C Common Digitizer and the original FPS-67B search radar. The Key West CD-2C was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in December 1992. The Key West FPS-67B search radar was phased out and replaced by an ARSR-4 3D radar between 1996 and 1999. Currently, the primary search radar is the ARSR-4 while the secondary radar at this site is a ATCBI-6M Beacon set. The U.S. Navy is listed as the owner of the ARSR-4 radar in the 2016 list of sites.

Current Status
Transitioned to civilian FAA maintenance in Key West, Monroe County, Florida. Listed as Navy-owned on the FAA 2016 site listing.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * JSS System
 * Battle Control System-Fixed
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Gunter SAGE Direction Center DC-09
 * Fort Lee SAGE Direction Center DC-04
 * Miami ARTCC

Sources:
 * , page 159.
 * , page 109.


 * , page 40.

Links:
 * Radomes - Key West NAS Radar Site
 * Wikipedia - Key West NAS Station
 * AADCP
 * Wikipedia - 671st Radar Squadron
 * Hawk Missiles at Key West NAS