Mount Hebo Air Force Station
Mount Hebo Air Force Station
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| Part of Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
 Mount Hebo AFS
Location of Mount Hebo AFS, Oregon
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| Coordinates | 45°12′57″N 123°45′28″W / 45.21583°N 123.75778°WCoordinates: 45°12′57″N 123°45′28″W / 45.21583°N 123.75778°W |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
 United States Air Force
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| Site history | |
| Built | 1957 |
| In use | 1957-1979 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 689th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
Mount Hebo Air Force Station (ADC ID: M-100, NORAD ID: Z-100) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 5.2 miles (8.4 km) east-southeast of Hebo, Oregon, located at the top of 3,154-foot (961 m) Mount Hebo. It was closed in 1980.
The station was 10 miles (16 km) from the Pacific Ocean and some 8.4 kilometres (5.2 mi) east of the coastal community of Hebo. Due to local orographic lift of the predominant westerly Pacific airflow, Mount Hebo is often rainy, windy, cold, and snowy. Three giant Air Force radomes, about 140 feet (43 m) in diameter and 100 feet (30 m) high, were destroyed by the elements: the first was constructed in 1962 and was destroyed by high winds on 12 Oct 1962 while yet incomplete; the second was built in 1963 and was destroyed by lightning and high winds in Jan 1964; the third was a different design and constructed in 1965, but it eventually succumbed to the winds in 1968. The top of Mount Hebo is usually under a few feet of snow during the winter.
Mount Hebo Air Force Station was a vital part of the Air Force Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) computer supported system for air defense. Available electronic equipment was able to support the detection, identification and destruction of enemy aircraft. This was accomplished by communications between the SAGE computers at Adair Air Force Station in Oregon and McChord Air Force Base in Washington, the radar and communications systems at Mount Hebo, and interceptor aircraft such as the supersonic F-106 Delta Dart.
Primary radar systems at Mt Hebo AFS included the FPS-24 search radar, and the FPS-26A and FPS-90 height finder radars. The FPS-26A was modified between 1967 and 1970 into the FSS-7 Sea launched ballistic Missile (SLBM) sensor and tracking radar. When the third FPS-24 radome was destroyed in 1968, the FPS-24 was replaced by an FPS-27 search radar with a smaller radar antenna and radome. Connectivity to the SAGE system was through the FST-2B. Ground to air radio communications were provided in two ways. First was digital data sent to the aircraft (F-106) via the GKA-5 digital data link system's modified GRT-3 UHF radio. Second was voice communications using the sites analog single channel GRT-3 transmitters, GRR-7 receivers and GRC-27 multi-channel (transmit and receive capable) UHF radios. All radio equipment was located at the Ground-to-Air Transmitter Receiver (GATR) site. The largest building on the radar site was the 64-foot-square (20 m), 85-foot-tall (26 m) FPS-24 radar tower. Surrounding this tower was a Radome Support Structure with a 140-foot-diameter (43 m), 96-foot-tall (29 m) radome to protect the 85.5-ton FPS-24 antenna from snow, ice, and high winds.
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