Mid-Canada Line Site 070 Kempis was a part of the Mid-Canada Line air defence network. During the late 1950s, the Mid-Canada Line (MCL) was developed as a secondary line of detection in case enemy aircraft penetrated the

Distant Early Warning Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Proj ...

. This consisted of approximately 90 unmanned sites and eight Sector Control Stations located along the 55th parallel. Each site sent out a radio beam to its neighbouring site. If an aircraft interrupted the beam, an intruder alarm would sound. Mount Kempis (near

CFS Ramore Canadian Forces Station Ramore (ADC ID: C-10) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east of Ramore, Ontario. It was closed in 1974. It was operated as part of the Pinetree Line network controlled by NORAD. It has s ...

) was chosen as a relay station for signals coming in from the Sector Control Site at

RCAF Station Winisk Royal Canadian Air Force Station Winisk (RCAF Station Winisk) was a military installation located in Winisk, Ontario. RCAF Winisk was one of eight Sector Control Stations on the Mid-Canada Line system of radar stations. Each SCS received signals ...

. The signals would be sent to Mount Kempis via a Tropospheric scatter system and then they would forward the signals via a land-line to the RCC at RCAF North Bay. This required the installation of a large parabolic antenna to receive the signals. MCL Site 070 ceased operations as a

troposcatter Tropospheric scatter, also known as troposcatter, is a method of communicating with microwave radio signals over considerable distances – often up to and further depending on frequency of operation, equipment type, terrain, and climate facto ...

repeater in April 1965 when the Mid-Canada Line was no longer economically feasible or required due to improvements in technology. The site was remediated in 2009 and any evidence that the site ever existed has been removed. Only a plaque commemorating the team who cleaned up the site remains.

References

{{Reflist Royal Canadian Air Force stations Air defence radar stations Cold War military history of Canada