This giant surveillance radar, is one of the largest the military ever made. It was installed on property called Montauk Air Force Station in 1960, just west of the Montauk Point Lighthouse. It was built to detect a surprise attack on New York City, by Russian aircraft or missiles. If hostile aircraft were seen, there was a network of 19 Nike Missile batteries positioned around New York City, which would be able to shoot down the bombers or missiles. The radar antenna on the top of the building is 120 feet across and weighs 70 tons.
The building that housed the radar is 90 feet tall, and the radar was able to see airborne threats as far as 200 miles out to sea. Many of the rectangular screens which make up the antenna have rusted and fallen off the support structure. This antenna was motorized and would sweep the horizon for 360 degrees, day and night, year after year. The radar was decommissioned in 1982.
This small house is just a stone's throw from the radar tower. The huge concrete building at right was part of the radar facility. Tomorrow I will tell you about Camp Hero, which was located nearby, and had giant guns to defend against hostile ships in World War II. I am not sure that this is the actual small house which I am going to tell you about, but there was a house like that looked like a small wooden house, but in reality it was built of thick, heavily reinforced concrete. It's purpose was to be part of the sighting and aiming system for the giant shore batteries. More on that tomorrow. Stay tuned.
2 comments:
You discover some amazing places. It is huge. I was surprised to see that it was decommissioned 42 years ago. I am guessing that with modern technology, they have much smaller and precise radar tracking.
Joan
It’s amazing to find out about this Air Force Station that had the gigantic surveillance radar out on Montauk built in 1960. Betsey
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