CFS Resolution Island
Encyclopedia
CFS Resolution Island is a short-range radar site. It is located 593 miles (954.3 km) north-northwest of CFB Goose Bay
CFB Goose Bay
Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay , is a Canadian Forces Base located in the town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador....

, Labrador and Newfoundland. It is part of the North Warning System
North Warning System
The North Warning System is a joint United States and Canadian radar system for the atmospheric air defense of North America. It provides surveillance of airspace from potential incursions or attacks from across North America's polar region...

. During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, it was operated as part of the Pinetree Line
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 NORAD , over half were manned by United States Air Force...

 network controlled by NORAD.

History

As a result of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 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
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 (USAF) radar station, one of the many that would make up the Pinetree Line
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 NORAD , over half were manned by United States Air Force...

 of Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) radar sites.

The United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 Northeast Air Command
Northeast Air Command
The Northeast Air Command 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 States established during World War II in Northeast Canada,...

 (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
920th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
The 920th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Goose Air Defense Sector, Air Defense Command, stationed at Resolution Island Air Station, Northern Territories, Canada...

 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 toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. These interceptors were assigned to the 64th Air Division at Goose AFB, Labrador. In 1957, with the inactivation of NEAC, the station came under the jurisdiction of Air Defense Command.

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
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

, which closed the facility.

The site was re-activated by the Canadian Forces as an unmanned North Warning System radar site in 1991. Most of the original buildings remain, mixed with new radar towers.

See also


External links

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