Brunswick Air Force Station | |
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Part of Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
Location of Brunswick AFS, Maine
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Coordinates | 43°53′44″N 069°55′24″W / 43.89556°N 69.92333°WCoordinates: 43°53′44″N 069°55′24″W / 43.89556°N 69.92333°W |
Type | Air Force Station |
Code | ADC ID: P-13 NORAD ID: Z-13 |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Air Force |
Site history | |
Built | 1951 |
In use | 1951-1965 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | 654th Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron |
Brunswick Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east-southeast of Brunswick, Maine. It was closed in 1965.
Brunswick AFS was one of the first of twenty-four stations of the 1949 permanent Air Defense Command radar network. On December 2, 1948, the Air Force directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction of this and the other twenty-three sites.
The 654th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to Brunswick on 1 January 1951 and began operating a pair of AN/CPS-6B radars from here in October, assuming coverage previously provided by the Lashup site at Grenier AFB, New Hampshire (L-4), and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes.
An AN/FPS-8 radar was added in 1955. The Air Force eventually converted this unit to an AN/GPS-3 radar that served at Brunswick until the 1960s. In 1958 the AN/CPS-6Bs were retired and two AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars were installed. During 1959 Brunswick AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-05 at Topsham AFS, Maine. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the 654th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 October 1959.
The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-13.
In addition to the main facility, Brunswick AFS operated an AN/FPS-14 unmanned Gap Filler site: