CFS Resolution Island (BAF-5
/ref>) is a short-range radar site. It is located north-northwest of

CFB Goose Bay Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay , commonly referred to as CFB Goose Bay, is a Canadian Forces Base located in the municipality of Happy Valley-Goose Bay in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is operated as an air force base by ...

, Labrador on

Resolution Island, Nunavut Resolution Island is one of the many uninhabited Canadian Arctic islands in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut. It is a Baffin Island offshore island located in Davis Strait. It has an area of . The Lower Savage Islands lie between Resolution Islan ...

. It is part of the

North Warning System The North Warning System (NWS) is a joint United States and Canadian early-warning radar system for the atmospheric air defense of North America. It provides surveillance of airspace from potential incursions or attacks from across North America ...

. During the Cold War, it was operated as part of the

Pinetree Line The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across the northern United States and southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Run by North Ame ...

network controlled by

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

History

As a result of the Cold War and with the expansion of a North American continental air defense system, Resolution Island was selected as a site for a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

(USAF) radar station, one of the many that would make up the

of Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) radar sites. The

Northeast Air Command The Northeast Air Command (NEAC) was a short-lived organization in the United States Air Force tasked with the operation and defense of air bases in Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland. It was formed in 1950 from the facilities of the United St ...

(NEAC) established a general surveillance radar station on Resolution Island in 1953, designating the site as "Resolution Island Air Station", with Site-ID of N-30. The 920th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to the site on 19 January 1952. It was equipped with the following radars: * Search Radars: AN/FPS-3C, AN/FPS-502 * Height Radars: AN/TPS-502 As a GCI base, the 920th's role was to guide

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are ...

toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. These interceptors were assigned to the

64th Air Division The 64th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, being stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 1 July 1963. History World War II The organi ...

at Goose AFB, Labrador. In 1957, with the inactivation of NEAC, the station came under the jurisdiction of

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly ina ...

. Routine operations from the station were performed until 1 November 1961, when the station was inactivated and turned over to the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environ ...

, which closed the facility. The Canadian Coast Guard operated a radio station from 1929(?) until 1975 under the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assig ...

VAW. The station (MF Marine) was then moved to Killinek (NWT/Nunavut), on the south shore of the Hudson Strait. * 1918 Cape Sable

Direction finding Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio stat ...

(DF) station opens * 1929 Resolution Island Radio opens * US Navy Radio Navigational Aids 1943 lists this as a DF stn at Resolution Island, also broadcasting navigational warnings on 500 kHz. The site was re-activated by the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Ai ...

as an unmanned

, short range radar site in 1991.

References

* Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W., ''A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980''

Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO (1980). * Winkler, David F. & Webster, Julie L., ''Searching the Skies'', The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program

US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
Information for Resolution Island AS, NT

External links

Air Force magazine article on Resolution Island AFS, December 2011
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Canadian Forces bases in Nunavut, Resolution Island Radar stations of the United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command military installations Installations of the United States Air Force in Canada 1953 establishments in the Northwest Territories 1961 disestablishments in the Northwest Territories Military installations established in 1953 Military installations closed in 1961

History

See also

References

External links