| COBRA DANE Radar: Protecting The U.S. From Abroad |
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by U.S. Air Force Robert Lingley, 21st Space Wing Public Affairs |
| April 6, 2018 |
The COBRA DANE radar, a single faced ground-based, phased-array
radar at Eareckson Air Station, Alaska, is a large and powerful
radar located on the island of Shemya, in the Alaskan Aleutian
Islands, that can detect objects up to 2,000 miles away.
“Shemya
Island crosses the 180 degree line of longitude, making it the
easternmost continually inhabited settlement in the United States,”
said Maj. Christopher Hill, 13th Space Warning Squadron operations
officer. “There are no uniformed members currently stationed at
Eareckson.”
Employed as an early warning system, COBRA DANE
has the capacity to track 200 targets at a time and provide detailed
information on them to North American Aerospace Defense Command
headquarters.
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November 27, 2017 - The COBRA DANE radar is a single
faced ground-based, L-band phased-array radar located at
Eareckson Air Station, Shemya, Alaska. The primary mission
of COBRA DANE is to collect radar metric and signature data
on foreign ballistic missile events. Additional missions
include collecting space surveillance data on new foreign
launches and satellites in low-earth orbit. The radar has a
95-foot diameter phased array and the capability to track
and record data on as many as 120 objects simultaneously. (Photos by
U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Brandon Raile, Alaskan NORAD
Region/Alaskan Command/11th Air Force)
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“It can track objects in low-earth orbit that are approximately
the size of a golf ball,” Hill said.
In past decades there
were upwards of 1,000 military members who supported various
missions operated by the installation. Currently 29 contractors
operate the COBRA DANE radar and 250 more contractors are employed
at Shemya supporting both base operations support functions and
COBRA DANE operations.
“COBRA DANE’s primary mission is to
support U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Strategic Command by
providing midcourse radar coverage for the Ballistic Missile Defense
System,” said Hill. “The system detects Intercontinental Ballistic
Missiles and Sea-Launched Ballistic Missiles, classifies reentry
vehicles and other missile objects, and provides real-time
information to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Fire Control for
potential interception and elimination of threat missiles.”
Its secondary mission is to support USSTRATCOM’s
space situational awareness mission by detecting, tracking,
correlating, and characterizing man-made resident space objects,
primarily in the Low-Earth Orbit regime, including space debris and
early observation of new foreign launches.
The radar, which
is just a few islands away from Russia, stands 120 feet tall and has
a 95 foot diameter. It became operational on Aug. 1, 1977, underwent
a modernization in the early 1990s, and has had numerous upgrades
since.
“Initially, the system supported three critical U.S
Air Force missions, technical data collection for ballistic missile
verification, early warning, and space surveillance,” said Hill.
“Its missions and purpose have evolved over the decades as threats
have evolved.”
COBRA DANE is an Air Force Space Command
government owned facility with Raytheon, the company that developed
it, providing the manpower. Currently, 13th SWS provides
administrative oversight to COBRA DANE operations while the Air
Force Lifecycle Management Center performs program management and
sustainment.
by U.S. Air Force Robert Lingley, 21st Space Wing Public Affairs
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2018
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