Perm ID	Sage ID	JSS ID	Unit	Location	Early Equip.	Final Equip.	Oper. Date	Inact. Date	Notes
P-39			670	San Clemente Island AFS, CA	FPS-3; FPS-4; FPS-8/GPS-3; FPS-6		May-52	1960	Sq relocated to RP-39, San Pedro Hill AFS (Fort MacArthur), CA. Was to become a gap-filler annex, but did not. A new ARSR-4 site (owned by the US Navy) has been activated further to the south on Mt. Thirst.
P-39A				Malibu Beach, CA **	(FPS-14 first planned, then FPS-18)				Gap-Filler Annex. ** In early ADC plans, but never was built. Planned location is unknown.

History of San Clemente Island AFS, CA

This radar site was preceded by Lashup-Permanent radar site LP-39 which began operations in November 1951 with an AN/TPS-1C search radar. The LP-39 site was then replaced by Permanent site P-39. The 670th AC&W Squadron began operations in May 1952 with a single AN/FPS-3 radar. A year later, an AN/FPS-4 height-finder radar joined the site. In 1955 an AN/FPS-8 came to the island; this radar subsequently was converted to a AN/GPS-3. In 1956 an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar replaced the AN/FPS-4. This site was deactivated in 1960, and the 670th AC&W Squadron relocated to Fort MacArthur / San Pedro Hill AFS (RP-39), a joint-use Air Force / Army / FAA radar site. San Clemente Island was handed over to the Navy. In 1972, at a new location to the south on Mount Thirst, the Navy installed an AN/FPS-20 search radar (later modified to the FPS-93A version) in an arctic tower for range safety and bombing exercises. In the late 1990's, the AN/FPS-93A was replaced by an ARSR-4 radar at the Mount Thirst location, and is now shared with the Air Force for the JSS program (the FAA maintains the radar for the Navy, but reportedly does not use the data).

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

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Information for San Clemente Island AFS, CA

Latitude: 32-58-34.7 N, Longitude: 118-33-09.0 W

Call Sign(s): Swanee

History of San Clemente Island AFS, CA