Information for Tierra Amarilla AFS, NM

Latitude: 36-37-25 N, Longitude: 106-39-50 W

Call Sign(s): Sea Train

Perm ID	Sage ID	JSS ID	Unit	Location	Early Equip.	Final Equip.	Oper. Date	Inact. Date	Notes
P-8			767	Tierra Amarilla AFS, NM	FPS-3; FPS-5; FPS-6		1950	8 Dec 1958	Replaced the El Vado Lashup Radar Site (L-44). First permanent (P-) site to shut down. Plans for an AN/FPS-24 or -35 FD search radar were cancelled.

Perm ID

Sage ID

JSS ID

Unit

Location

Early
Equip.

Final
Equip.

Oper.
Date

Inact.
Date

Notes

P-8

767

Tierra Amarilla AFS, NM

FPS-3; FPS-5; FPS-6

1950

8 Dec 1958

Replaced the El Vado Lashup Radar Site (L-44). First permanent (P-) site to shut down. Plans for an AN/FPS-24 or -35 FD search radar were cancelled.

History of Tierra Amarilla AFS, NM

An AN/CPS-5 radar was activated in 1950 at the El Vado Lashup location (L-44) near the dam. The unit was later installed at the permanent site several miles to the north-northeast that was activated to provide coverage for Los Alamos. By September 1952, the 767th AC&W Squadron commenced operation at this new permanent site. By 1953 AN/FPS-3 and AN/FPS-5 radars were in operation. A year before the site shutdown, the AN/FPS-5 was replaced by an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar. An AN/FPS-24 or -35 FD search radar had once been planned, but was subsequently cancelled. On 8 December 1958, this became the first radar of the permanent network to shutdown.

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

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