Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar System (BMEWS) at Thule (U)
Overview (U):
(U) The Thule Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar System (BMEWS) site is located at Thule Air Base, Greenland, and is operated by the U.S. Air Force 12th Space Warning Squadron. The BMEWS system detects, tracks, and provides tactical warning and attack assessment (TW/AA) of ballistic missiles launched against the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Details (U):
Description User Impact Programmatics Images Related Initiatives Related Requirements Related Categories Road Map Placements Additional Hotlinks Lead Office POC
Description (U):
(U) The Thule BMEWS radar is a 2-Faced Phased Array radar that initially began operations in 1953. The BMEWS radar network became operational in the early1960s and has been significantly upgraded since. The Thule BMEWS reached a modernized Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in 2QFY87.
(U) The BMEWS radar network consists of three radars located at Thule Air Force Base (AFB), Greenland; Clear, Alaska; and Royal Air Force (RAF) Fylingdales, UK . The Thule BMEWS and the Fylingdales BMEWS are two and three faced phased array radars, respectively, while the Clear BMEWS site employs three detection and one tracking mechanical radar(s). The Flyingdales three-faced BMEWS radar was modernized in 1QFY92. A plan to upgrade Clear to a phased array radar, similar to the PAVE PAWS radars at Beale and Cape Cod is currently funded during FY98-FY03.
(U) BMEWS radars operate in the UHF (420-450 MHz) frequency range. The radars' missions are performed automatically under control of the mission software, which directs radar operation to detect, acquire, and track missile and satellite objects of interest. The system also processes data to classify unknown, tracked objects.User Impact (U):
(U) The BMEWS system detects, tracks, and provides TW/AA of ballistic missiles launched against the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Programmatics (U):
(U) Operational.
(U) Organizations and Funding:
- (U) Air Force.
Images (U):
Name Title Thule BMEWS Thule Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar System (BMEWS) This Table Is Unclassified. Related Initiatives (U):
Name Title BMEWS Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) This Table Is Unclassified. Related Requirements (U):None.
Related Categories (U):
Name Title BMEWS Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) Collateral Sensors Collateral Sensors Ground-Based Warning Ground-Based Warning Sensors This Table Is Unclassified. Road Map Placements (U):
Name Title SPACE CONTROL: S.S. NETWORK SPACE CONTROL: SPACE SURVEILLANCE NETWORK SURVEILLANCE AND WARNING SPACE FORCE ENHANCEMENT: SURVEILLANCE AND WARNING This Table Is Unclassified. Requirements, Funding and Additional Hotlinks (U):
Name 1997 Space Surveillance Dev Plan This Table Is Unclassified. Lead Office (U):
(U) Air Force.
(U) DoD: OASD(C3I), Pentagon, Washington, DC
(U) Service Staff: HQ AF/XORB, Pentagon, Washington, DC
(U) Major Command: HQ AFSPC/DO, Peterson AFB, CO
(U) Program Management: AFMC/SSSG/ND (SNDC2 SPO)Point of Contact (U):
(U) Ben Howell, Open Phone: None..
Date Of Information (U):
(U) 13 November 1997
(U) Road Map Production Date: 12 July 1999
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