AN/FPS-18 Radar
The AN/FPS-18 was a medium-range search radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command.[1]
This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bendix as a SAGE system gap-filler radar to provide low-altitude coverage. Operating in the S-band at a frequency between 2700 and 2900 MHz, the AN/FPS-18 could detect at a range of 65 miles.
The system was deployed in the late 1950s and 1960s at unmanned radar facilities (called "Gap Fillers") designed to fill the low-altitude gaps between manned long-range radar stations. Gaps in coverage existed due to the curvature of the Earth, mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, and so forth.
The typical unmanned gap-filler radar annex consisted of a small L-shaped cinder-block building, with the radar equipment and the data-transmission equipment in one section and one or more diesel generators in the other section. These unmanned gap-filler sites generally had a three-legged radar tower about 85 feet tall where the AN/FPS-18 Radar was mounted inside a radome.
In accordance with the Joint Electronics Type Designation System, the radar's "AN/FPS-18" designation represents the 18th design of an Army-Navy fixed radar(pulsed) electronic device for searching.[2][3]
References
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This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ Bendix radio radar history bendixradiofoundation.com [dead link]
- ^ Winkler, David F. (1997). "Radar Systems Classification Methods". Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program (PDF). Langley AFB, Virginia: United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command. p. 73. LCCN 97020912.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Avionics Department (2013). "Missile and Electronic Equipment Designations". Electronic Warfare and Radar Systems Engineering Handbook (PDF) (4 ed.). Point Mugu, California: Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. pp. 2–8.1.
