The effects of any budget/program decisions made since the information was collected during 1997-98 are NOT reflected in the National Security Space Road Map (NSSRM).

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(U) Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS)

Description (U):

(U) The three BMEWS radars are located at Thule Air Force Base (AFB), Greenland; Clear Air Station, Alaska; and Royal Air Force (RAF) Air Base, Fylingdales, UK. The Thule BMEWS uses a two-faced phased array radar and the Fylingdales BMEWS uses a three-faced phased array radar. The Clear BMEWS site employs three detection and one tracking mechanical radars. The Clear radars will be replaced by two salvaged phased array radars and one phased array from each of the PAVE PAWS sites that have been placed into warm storage (Eldorado and Robbins). This upgrade will provide the Clear site with radar capabilities similar to the PAVE PAWS radars at Beale and Cape Cod.

(U) BMEWS radars operate in the UHF (420-450 MHz) frequency range. The radar missions are performed automatically under control of the mission software, which directs radar operation to detect, acquire and track missile and satellite objects of interest. The systems also processes the tracked data to classify unknown objects.

(U) The BMEWS radar network became operational in the early 1960s and has been significantly upgraded since. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the modernized Thule two-faced BMEWS phased array radar was in 2QFY87. IOC for the Fylingdales three-faced BMEWS phased array radar modernization was in 1QFY92. The Clear Radar Upgrade (CRU) will be conducted from FY98 through FY03.

User Impact (U):

(U) The BMEWS system detects, tracks, and provides TW/AA of ballistic missiles launched against the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Programmatics (U):

(U) Operational.

• (U) Termination: 01/2010 (2QFY2010).
  
  (U) The termination date for the BMEWS radars corresponds with the operation of the Long Range Dual Band Transportable Radar.

• (U) USSPACECOM: Funding Source.

Images (U):

This Table Is Unclassified.

Name	Title
Added Value to the Warfighter	AFSPC Vision
Fylingdales	Fylingdales
Thule BMEWS	Thule Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar System (BMEWS)

Related Initiatives (U):

This Table Is Unclassified.

Name	Title
Clear	Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) at Clear
Fylingdales	Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar System (BMEWS) at Fylingdales
NCMC-TW/AA	NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex (NCMC) Threat Warning/Attack Assessment
Thule	Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar System (BMEWS) at Thule

Related Requirements (U): None.

Related Categories (U):

This Table Is Unclassified.

Name	Title
Collateral Sensors	Collateral Sensors

Road Map Placements (U):

This Table Is Unclassified.

Name	Title
National Security Space Road Map	Integrated System Road Map
SPACE CONTROL: S.S. NETWORK	SPACE CONTROL: SPACE SURVEILLANCE NETWORK

Requirements, Funding and Additional Hotlinks (U):

(U) None.

Lead Office (U):

Air Force.

(U) DoD: OASD(C3I), Pentagon, Washington, DC
(U) Service Staff: HQ AF/XORB, Pentagon, Washington, DC
(U) Major Command: HQ AFSPC/DO, Peterson AFB, CO
(U) Program Management: AFMC/SSSG/ND (SNDC2 SPO)

Point of Contact (U):

(U) Ben Howell, Open Phone: None..

Date Of Information (U):

(U) 13 November 1997

(U) Road Map Production Date: 23 June 2001