North Warning System

The North Warning System is a collaborative network of radars operated between the United States and Canada. The North Warning System is a successor system from the Distant Early Warning Line System for air traffic control and took the end of 1980 to run on. These systems are used to monitor the airspace of Canada and the United States and show front of impending dangers and airspace violations, so that countermeasures can be taken. Most radars are located in Canada, which are primarily located on the coasts and in the northern territories. These systems are operated by the U.S. and Canadian military personnel. Important information is sent immediately to the headquarters of NORAD in Canada and in the United States, in which then jointly determined appropriate countermeasures.

History

The Distant Early Warning Line, which was set up end of 1950, had the task of protecting the airspace of the United States and Canada from enemy attacks mainly against the former Soviet Union. This system was operated until mid- 1980. With the agreement of the North American Air Defence Modernization agreement cooperation between Canada and the United States has been intensified and modernized systems. This agreement was agreed at the "Shamrock Summit" between the Canadian Prime Minister Mulroney and President Reagan in Quebec, Canada on 18 March 1985. From this agreement was the still existing North Warning System.

Operation

The North Warning System operates radar stations, among others, of the type 117 FPS (Remote Radar Post) and AN/FPS-124. These facilities are operated by NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command ). The stations in Alaska are served by the regional control center. The Canadian radar stations are operated by a Canadian military base. The information is recorded, processed and then forwarded to the NORAD headquarters in Canada and the United States. This then decide on further action.

Stations

The North Warning System operates 15 radar systems with long-range, 11 are located in Canada and four in the United States. In addition, 39 short-range radar systems of which 36 are located in Canada and four in the United States. Overall, it is an area of ​​4800 km of these radar systems on the coasts of Alaska, Canada to the southern Newfoundland and Labrador covered ( small selection ). :