Gibbsboro Air Force Station
Gibbsboro Air Force Station
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| Part of Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
1979 USAF photo
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 Gibbsboro AFS
Location of Gibbsboro AFS, New Jersey
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| Coordinates | 39°49′27″N 74°57′16″W / 39.82417°N 74.95444°WCoordinates: 39°49′27″N 74°57′16″W / 39.82417°N 74.95444°W |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Code | ADC ID: RP-63, NORAD ID: Z-63 JSS/GEF ID: J-51 |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
 United States Air Force
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| Site history | |
| Built | 1961 |
| In use | 1961-1984 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 772d Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron |
Gibbsboro Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) south-southeast of Gibbsboro, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. It was closed in 1994 by the Air Force, and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) Ground Equipment Facility.
What would eventually become Gibbsboro AFS was established in March 1957 as an unmanned "Gap Filler" site, designated P-9A for Highlands Air Force Station, New Jersey, configured with an AN/FPS-14 radar. It was the first Gap Filler site in the nation. In 1960, the United States Army established Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) PH-64DC for Nike missile command-and-control functions at Pedrickstown Army Installation. The site was an AN/FSG-l Missile-Master Radar Direction Center.
In a fund-saving consolidation, the Air Force moved the 772d Radar Squadron (SAGE) from Claysburg Air Force Station, Pennsylvania, to this Army long-range radar site, and inactivated the P-9A gap-filler radar. The Army site was transferred to the Air Force, and renamed Gibbsboro Air Force Station. The site was redesignated as RP-53 and began Air Force long-range radar operations on 1 May 1961 with AN/FPS-66 and AN/FPS-6 radars. The center initially fed data to the SAGE (DC-01) center at McGuire AFB. 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.
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