History of Twin Lights, NJ
In 1948 the 646th AC&W Squadron activated an AN/TPS-1B radar, and in 1949 added an AN/CPS-6 radar at this coastal site to feed into a manual control center established at Roslyn, New York. During an exercise in mid-1949, the capability of this site was judged as "zero." These radars were incorporated into the Lashup system and the follow-on permanent network. In 1955 the site received an AN/FPS-8 search radar. This radar was converted into an AN/GPS-3 that would remain until 1960. In 1958 an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar became operational. Also that year the Navesink complex began providing a feed into the SAGE blockhouse located at McGuire AFB, NJ. In September 1959 this site became the first to deploy an AN/FPS-7 radar. Around this time, Highlands AFS also became an Air Force / Army joint-use site; the Army?s designation for the site was NY-55DC. The Army installed a Nike Missile Master direction center. In 1960 the Air Force installed an AN/FPS-6B height-finder radar. The Army likewise installed a pair of AN/FPS-6 / -90 height-finder radars. By 1963 the Air Force AN/FPS-6 and -6B height-finder radars had been replaced by AN/FPS-26A and AN/FPS-90 sets. The 646th Radar Squadron (SAGE) was deactiveated, and the site was transferred to the Army, on April 1, 1966. Army radar operations ceased for good in 1974 when the Nike system was phased out.
References: "Searching the Skies"; misc. ADCOM documents; eyewitness accounts.
Hide