Burns AFS
Burns Air Force Station
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| Part of Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
 Burns AFS
Location of Burns AFS, Oregon
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| Coordinates | 43°33′45″N 119°09′05″W / 43.56250°N 119.15139°WCoordinates: 43°33′45″N 119°09′05″W / 43.56250°N 119.15139°W |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Code | ADC ID: M-118, NORAD ID: Z-118 |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
 United States Air Force
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| Site history | |
| Built | 1955 |
| In use | 1955-1974 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 634th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
Burns Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 5.2 miles (8.4 km) west-southwest of Burns, Oregon. It was closed in 1974.
Burns Air Force Station was established as part of the planned deployment by Air Defense Command of forty-four Mobile radar stations across the United States to support the permanent Radar network established during the Cold War for air defense of the United States. This deployment had been projected to be operational by mid-1952. Funding, constant site changes, construction, and equipment delivery delayed deployment.
The Station was activated on 8 June 1955 after the 634th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was moved to Burns by the 9th Air Division. The squadron began operating an AN/MPS-7 search-radar set at this site atop Burns Butte, 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. By 1959 this radar had been joined by a pair of AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars. An AN/FPS-7B radar replaced the AN/MPS-7 radar in 1960.
During 1961 Burns AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-16 at Stead AFB, Nevada. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the 634th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 March 1961. 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-118.
Also in 1963, two AN/FPS-90s were performing height-finder duties. In 1965 an AN/FPS-66A search radar (relocated from Condon AFS, OR) replaced the AN/FPS-7B at the site. One AN/FPS-90 height-finder radar was retired in 1968.
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