Keno Air Force Station
Keno Air Force Station
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| Part of Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
Circa 1975 historical photograph
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 Keno AFS
Location of Keno AFS, Oregon
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| Coordinates | 42°04′08″N 121°58′20″W / 42.06889°N 121.97222°WCoordinates: 42°04′08″N 121°58′20″W / 42.06889°N 121.97222°W |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
 United States Air Force
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| Site history | |
| Built | 1957 |
| In use | 1958-1979 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 827th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
Keno Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-180, NORAD ID: Z-180) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 4.6 miles (7.4 km) south-southwest of Keno, Oregon. It was closed in 1979 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 Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-82.
Keno Air Force Station came into existence as part of Phase III of the Air Defense Command Mobile Radar program. On October 20, 1953 ADC requested a third phase of twenty-five radar sites be constructed. The site was located east of the Cascade mountains to provide coverage of the air refueling tracks in Northern California. In 1957, 306 acres of land were acquired for DoD use at the new site.
The 827th Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron was assigned to the new station on 1 February 1958. Logistical support and housing for personnel was provided by Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls, thirteen miles to the east. The squadron initially began operations with an AN/FPS-20A search radar and a pair of AN/FPS-6A height-finder radars (one east hemisphere coverage, and one west). A Ground-Air Transmit/Receive site (GATR) was co-located on the site, with antennas favoring the south toward the air refueling tracks in California.
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. In 1960 Keno became a joint-use facility with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), performing air-traffic-control duties. In 1961 the search radar was upgraded and redesignated as an AN/FPS-67.
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