The White Falcon - 29.04.1988, Qupperneq 2

Hofn
&
Rockville
radar sites
slated for
automation
this fall
The U.S. Air Force’s last tvo
manual radar sites in the North
American/North Atlantic area of
responsibility, along with their
manual scopes and plotting
boards, will give way to
automated command and control
facilities.
By Sept. 30 all USAF personnel
will depart the Hofn radar site, a
long-range radar facility in the
southeast corner of the island
which provides control of air-
space for U.S. training missions
as well as the interception of
Soviet aircraft.
The facility will remain open
and maintained by civilian
contractors. The talents and
expertise of the 75 members of
the 667th Aircraft Control and
Warning Squadron will be used
elsewhere.
Radar data collected at the Hofn
site will be digitized and trans-
mitted automatically to the
Iceland Region Operations Control
Center (ICEROCC) at Rockville,
Iceland, according to Senior
Master Sgt. Thomas C. Teubert of
the First Air Force Directorate of
Operation's Command and Control
Division.
"Instead of using manually-
generated data, the command and
control function will be per-
formed with automated data from
one central location, the
ICEROCC," said Sergeant Teubert.
“Since the information is
transmitted digitally rather than
voice-told, our controllers can
handle a larger volume of data,
faster and more accurately.”
A similar modernization will
occur at the Rockville radar site,
which serves as the Master
Direction Center for the Iceland
Defense System. Manned by
members of the 932nd Air Defense
Squadron, data collected at the
facility will also be digitized for
transmission to the collocated
ICEROCC.
Additionally, two new radars
are being installed on the
northern coast of Iceland. The
inputs from these radars will
also be fed to the ICEROCC. Radar
maintenance will be performed by
civilian contractors.
When Rockville and Hofn were
built and manned between 1953-56
during the United States air
defense build-up, they were the
state of the art manual control
facilities.
"Now 34 years later, a
significant capability upgrade is
occurring," said Maj. Gen.
Jimmie V. Adams, commander jg
First Air Force. "While the peof.®
have changed many times and tn?
equipment updated several times,
the mission—vigilant air defense
—has remained unchanged."
"With the 57th Fighter Inter-
ceptor Squadron making 139
intercepts of Soviet aircraft In
the Iceland MADIZ (Military Air
Defense Identification Zone) dur-
ing 1987, the air defense mission
in Iceland is extremely impor-
tant. The computer and radar
upgrades are a testament to that
importance and Tactical Air
Command resolve," said General
Adams.
COMICEDEFOR............Rear Admiral Erie A. McVadoa
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The White Falcon