History of Selfridge AFB LASHUP, MI

Manned by the 661st AC&W Squadron, this Lashup site used an AN/CPS-5 radar. During a 1949 exercise this site performed well, tracking aircraft at ranges up to 210 miles. Selfridge AFB became part of the permanent network in 1952. The site used a pair of AN/CPS-6 sets. An AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar arrived in 1957. Selfridge joined the SAGE system in 1959. By 1960 the AN/CPS-6 radar had been retired, and was replaced by AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 and -6A height-finder radars. In 1961 the site received an AN/FPS-35 radar; however, problems prevented the radar from becoming operational in 1961. It became operational the following year. Meanwhile an AN/FPS-26A replaced the AN/FPS-6A height-finder radar circa 1963. The Selfridge long-range radar site was shared with the Army as a Nike missile command-and-control center; the Army also operated a pair of AN/FPS-6 or -90 height-finder radars alongside their Missile Master blockhouse. The 661st Radar Squadron (SAGE) was deactivated in July 1974 when the Army deactivated their Nike missile defense system around Detroit.

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


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