Cobra Dane

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Cobra Dane radar in October 1984

The AN / FPS-108 Cobra Dane - Radar is an air and space surveillance radar of the United States Air Force and is on the Eareckson-base on Shemya Iceland , Alaska .

history

The data processing center in June 1977

It was developed in the mid-1970s to monitor Soviet missile tests in Kura (Kamchatka) and began operating in 1977. The radar system was an important link in the chain of custody of the North American Aerospace Defense Command to approaching Soviet ICBMs to capture and verification of SALT II to monitor launchers for ICBMs. Today it also monitors space debris for the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office .

technology

Detail of the transmission elements (1977)

Cobra Dane is designed as a passive phased array antenna , the 29 meter mirror is composed of 15,360 transmitting and 19,408 receiving elements. The 15,360 twelve centimeter transmitters have a maximum total output of 15.4 megawatts, the average output of the system is 0.92 megawatts at a frequency of 1215 to 1400 MHz. Objects can still be detected at a distance of over 3000 kilometers, in space up to a distance of 40,000 kilometers.

Web links

Commons : Cobra Dane  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. fas.org , as of July 12, 2007

Coordinates: 52 ° 44 ′ 13.7 "  N , 174 ° 5 ′ 29.5"  E