Information for Clear AFS PAVE PAWS, AK

Latitude: 64-18-01 N, Longitude: 149-11-23 W

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13 SWS

Clear AFS PAVE PAWS, AK

FPS-115 / FPS-123; SPY-7

This Solid-State Phased-Array Radar (SSPAR) was relocated from Eldorado AFS, TX, and replaced the mechanical BMEWS radars. (See BMEWS Site 2, Clear, AK.) The installation is now named Clear Space Force Station. The AN/SPY-7 Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) was added to the site in 2022.

History of Clear AFS PAVE PAWS, AK

One of three BMEWS sites was located at Clear. The detection radar, known as an AN/FPS-50, used a fixed antenna system that was constructed in 1959 and 1960. Operation of this system began in 1961. In 1966 an AN/FPS-92 tracking radar was added to the site. In the late 1990's, the AN/FPS-115 (now AN/FPS-123) PAVE PAWS phased-array radar was relocated from Eldorado AFS, TX, to Clear AFS, replacing the older BMEWS radars. In 2022, the AN/SPY-7 LRDR was added to the site for ballistic missile detection & discrimination for the MDA.

References: "Searching the Skies"; misc. ADCOM documents; eyewitness accounts; other.

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