The Fort Meade radar station was an air defence radar installation used by the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. The site operated c. 1950 until 1979 and had a

Project Nike Project Nike (Greek: Nike (mythology), Νίκη, "Victory") was a United States Army, U.S. Army project proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight (missile), line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project del ...

command post and radar network.

Lashup site L-14

Site L-14 of the temporary

Lashup Radar Network The Lashup Radar Network was a United States Cold War radar netting system for air defense surveillance which followed the post-World War II "five-station radar net" and preceded the "high Priority Permanent System". ROTOR was a similar expedient ...

was the

ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic wa ...

radar station established at

Fort George G. Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, th ...

until the radar's surveillance area was covered by a Quantico AFS radar in 1955. The Fort Meade radar station also had the first experimental AN/GSG-2 Antiaircraft Defense System in 1955.

ARAACOM site W-13DC

In 1957 the Fort Meade station was designated an Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) for the

Washington-Baltimore Defense Area The following is a list of Nike (rocket)#Project legacy, Nike missile sites operated by the United States Army. This article lists sites in the United States, most responsible to Army Air Defense Command (United States), Army Air Defense Command ...

. The site had the first operational Martin AN/FSG-I Antiaircraft Defense System, a fire distribution center for

Nike Missile Project Nike (Greek: Νίκη, "Victory") was a U.S. Army project proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft mi ...

s and which was operated by the 35th Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade. Designated W-13DC, the site had an AN/FPS-67 search radar and later a solid-state

Hughes AN/TSQ-51 Air Defense Command and Coordination System The AN/TSQ-51 Air Defense Command and Coordination System developed by Hughes was a transportable electronic fire distribution center for automated command and control of remote Nike missile launch batteries. The radar netting system replace th ...

. After 1957, Fort Meade became the Headquarters, 2nd Region,

Army Air Defense Command Army Air Defense Command, previously Army Anti-Aircraft Command, was a major command of the United States Army which existed from 1957 to 1974. The previous ARAACOM was created in 1950 and was redesignated ARADCOM in 1957. It was formed to command ...

ADC site RP-54

On 1 October 1961, W-13DC was integrated with the Aerospace Defense Command network as replacement site RP-54 operated by the USAF's 770th Airborne Control and Warning Squadron that transferred from former site P-54 at

Palermo Air Force Station Palermo Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-54, NORAD ID: Z-54) is a closed United States Air Force (USAF) General Surveillance Radar station. It was located in Palermo, New Jersey, north of Sea Isle City, in Cape May County, New Jersey, United Sta ...

, New Jersey. Site RP-54 became part of the 1957

Washington Air Defense Sector The Washington Air Defense Sector (WaADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command (ADC) 26th Air Division, being stationed at Fort Lee Air Force Station (AFS), Virginia. It ...

) with an interface with the DC-04 SAGE system direction center at Fort Lee Air Force Station (inactivated 1 March 1983).

NORAD site Z-227

On 1 July 1963, the station was redesignated as site Z-227 (Palermo AFS re-opened as site Z-54), and the USAF unit was renamed the 770th Radar Squadron assuming control of the AN/FPS-67 and installing one each AN/FPS-6 and AN/FPS-6B height-finder radars by 1962. In 1964 an

AN/FPS-90 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United S ...

replaced Meade's AN/FPS-6B, and the AN/FPS-6 was shut down; while in 1966 the AN/FPS-67 was upgraded to an AN/FPS-67B. In addition to an annex at the former

Manassas Air Force Station Manassas Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-55 NORAD ID: Z-55) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located west of Dale City, Virginia. It was closed in 1965. History Manassas AFS was established as one ...

, the Fort Meade radar station had unmanned

AN/FPS-14 The AN/FPS-14 was a medium-range search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bendix as a SAGE system gap-filler radar to provide low-altitude coverage. Operating ...

Gap Filler A platform gap (also known technically as the platform train interface or PTI in some countries) is the space between a train car (or other Public transport, mass transit vehicle) and the edge of the station platform, often created by geometric c ...

annexes at Hermanville, Maryland (RP-54A/Z-227A, ) and

Hanover, Pennsylvania Hanover is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,429 at the 2020 census. Located southwest of York and north-northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, the town is situated in a productive agricultural region. It i ...

(RP-54B/Z-227B, ). The Washington AADCPs at

Suitland Suitland is a suburb of Washington, D.C., approximately one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Washington, D.C. Suitland is a census designated place (CDP), as of the 2020 census, its population was 25,839. Prior to 2010, it was part of the Suitland ...

& Ft Meade were deactivated on 1 September 1974; and USAF air defense operations at Ft Meade ended 1 October 1979 (a plan to use the site in the 1983

Joint Surveillance System The Joint Surveillance System (JSS) is a joint United States Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration system for the atmospheric air defense of North America. It replaced the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system in 1983. Overvie ...

was not implemented).

References

{{Reflist Installations of the United States Air Force Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites U.S. Army Nike sites Military installations established in the 1950s 1953 establishments in Maryland 1994 in military history Military installations in Maryland Military installations closed in 1979 1979 disestablishments in Maryland