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Manassas Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-55 NORAD ID: Z-55) is a closed
United States Air Force 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 ...
General Surveillance Radar station. It is located west of
Dale City, Virginia Dale City is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south west of Washington, D.C. It is an annex of Woodbridge, Virginia. As of 2020, the total population was 72,088. The community is roug ...
. It was closed in 1965.


History

Manassas AFS was established as one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the permanent Air Defense Command radar network. Prompted by the start of the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, on 11 July 1950, the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of the second segment of the permanent network. Receiving the Defense Secretary's approval on 21 July, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction. The 647th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operating
AN/FPS-3 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United State ...
and AN/CPS-4 radars at what was initially designated Quantico in March 1952, due to it being situated at the northeast corner of the Quantico Marine Corps Base. It assumed coverage from the temporary "Lashup" site L-14 at
Fort 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 military bands#Army Field Band, United States Army Field Band, and the head ...
, Maryland in 1955, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. The AN/FPS-3 remained active until 1962. In July 1957, the name of the station was officially changed to Manassas Air Force Station. In 1958
AN/FPS-6 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 ...
A and AN/FPS-6B radars took over height-finder chores. During 1959 Manassas AFS joined the
Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...
(SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-04 at Fort Lee AFS, Virginia. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the 647th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 October 1959. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 to the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile. Manassas AFS was upgraded to an
AN/FPS-35 The AN/FPS-35 frequency diversity radar was a long range search radar used in the early 1960s. It was one of the largest air defense radars ever produced, with its antenna and supporting structure mounted on one of the largest rolling-element bear ...
radar in 1961, but problems prevented operations. It became operational in 1962, and was tested to determine if it could detect missile launchings. The radar detected Polaris and Minuteman missile launches from Cape Canaveral on 28 June 1962. Additional tests revealed the AN/FPS-35 radar had marginal value for missile detection. The AN/FPS-3 was then retired. In 1963 an
AN/FPS-26 The Avco AN/FPS-26 Radar was an Air Defense Command height finder radar developed in the Frequency Diversity Program with a tunable 3-cavity power klystron for electronic counter-countermeasures (e.g. to counter jamming). Accepted by the Rome Ai ...
A replaced the AN/FPS-6A height-finder radar. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-55. In addition to the main facility, Manassas operated several 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 sites * Hermanville, MD (P-55B): : When Manassas AFS closed, the site became an annex of Fort Meade, MD and was redesignated "RP-54A". * Hanover, PA (RP-55D): : Reassigned to Fort Meade, MD in December, 1960 and was redesignated "RP-54B". * Thomas, WV (P-55F): : When Manassas AFS closed, the site became an annex of Oakdale AI, PA and was redesignated "RP-62G". The site was removed from service on 25 June 1965. Reportedly, the FPS-35 radar sail was then sent to Fortuna AFS, North Dakota, to replace the one there which had been destroyed in a fierce wind storm a year earlier. The Manassas GATR site at Independent Hill, VA was retained as site R-20 and manned by the 770th AC&W Squadron, Operating Location "A", and continued in operation until 1976. Today, the former Manassas Air Force Station is an administrative and logistics center for the Prince William County School District. The area remains fenced and many of the former Air Force buildings are in use, along with the housing area. The large AN/FPS-35 search radar tower remains, as well as the foundations for the other towers, although the towers themselves were removed several years ago.


Air Force units and assignments

Units: * 647th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Activated on 30 April 1948 at
Camp Kilmer Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp in Central New Jersey that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Tra ...
, New Jersey : Moved later that year to
Roslyn AFS Roslyn Air National Guard Station (ADC ID: P-3) is a closed United States Air Force station. It was located in East Hills, New York, on Long Island. It was originally part of Clarence MacKay's Harbor Hill estate. It was closed in 2000. Histo ...
, New York : Moved to
Grenier Field Grenier is a surname. It is a French word for ''attic, loft,'' or ''granary''. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Grenier * Angèle Grenier, Canadian maple syrup producer * Auguste Jean François Grenier (1814–1890), French docto ...
, New Hampshire in March 1949 : Moved to Gravelly Point, Arlington, Virginia on 1 January 1950 (not manned or equipped) : Moved to
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 ...
, Maryland, 1 January 1951 (not manned or equipped) : Moved to Quantico, Virginia on 1 April 1952 : Station redesignated Manassas AFS, VA, 1 July 1957 : Redesignated as 647th Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 October 1959 : Discontinued and inactivated 25 June 1965. Assignments: *
503d Aircraft Control and Warning Group The 503d Aircraft Control and Warning Group (AC&WG) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command (ADC)'s 26th Air Division at Roslyn AFS New York (state), New York. It was inactivated in 1952. ...
, 30 April 1948 *
26th Air Division The 26th Air Division (26th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inactiv ...
, 6 February 1952 * 4710th Defense Wing, 16 February 1953 *
85th Air Division The 85th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Eastern Air Defense Force of Air Defense Command at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. It was inactivated on 1 September 1958. History During World W ...
, 1 March 1956 *
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 ...
, 1 September 1958 – 25 June 1965


See also

*
List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations United States general surveillance radar stations include Army and USAF stations of various US air defense networks (in reverse chronological order): *Joint Surveillance System (JSS), with radar stations controlled by joint FAA/USAF ROCCs beginnin ...


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 Manassas AFS, VA
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in Virginia Radar stations of the United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command military installations 1952 establishments in Virginia 1965 disestablishments in Virginia Military installations established in 1952 Military installations closed in 1965