Latrar Air Station  | |
|---|---|
| Part ofAir Forces Iceland | |
.jpg) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Condition | abandoned |
| Location | |
  Latrar AS Location of Latrar Air Station | |
| Coordinates | 66°25′49″N023°05′34″W / 66.43028°N 23.09278°W /66.43028; -23.09278 (Latrar AS H-4) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1953–1956 |
| In use | 1956–1960 |
Latrar Air Station (ADC/NATO ID: H-4), also known asStraumnes Air Station,[1] is a formerUnited States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station built in 1953-1956, located at the top of Mount Straumnes and in the former village of Látrar in the bay ofAðalvík, on the sparsely inhabitedHornstrandir peninsula. The station was closed in 1960 and has since been left to the elements.[2]
The site was operated by the934th Aircraft Control and Warning (later Air Defense, Later Air Control) Squadron,[1] and was equipped withAN/FPS-3,AN/FPS-8 andAN/FPS-4 radars.[citation needed]
TheBolafjall (H-4) radar station, located approximately 30 km (18 mi) south of the Straumnes site was established in 1992 as part of theIceland Air Defence System.
Construction of the air station started in 1953 and it started operations in 1956. After only being in operation for four years, a decision was made to close the site in 1960 due to high operation costs and the last air force and civilian staff left the following year.[3] In 1962, the Icelandic government took over ownership of the remaining buildings.[4]
The Greenland, Iceland and United Kingdom air defense sector, better known as theGIUK gap, was routinely utilized by theSoviet Union's long-range heavy bombers and maritime reconnaissance platforms as a transit point towards theAtlantic Ocean. From bases located atArkhangelsk andMurmansk, Soviet aircraft would stream down to the North Cape in Norway towards the Gap which was use as a doorway to the vast Atlantic. Most of the Soviet missions were destined to probe United States’ air defense along the North Atlantic and after 1960 in the Caribbean whereCuba, the USSR's most important satellite state outside continental Europe, was located. Such was the perceived threat from the Soviet incursions that it became a priority for NATO to demonstrate to that the strategic Giuk passage would be monitored at all times.[citation needed]
The mission of the station was to intercept and shadow all Soviet aircraft in transit in and from the Gap which passed through the detection range of its radars and pass the information to interceptor aircraft deployed at Keflavik Airfield.[citation needed]
The site was inaccessible except by sealift using a small pier usable only during a limited part of the summer season. The site was never equipped withtropospheric scatter communications (as H-1,H-2 and H-3 had been equipped) and relied onHF communications which were inadequate. The station was closed in 1960 as a result of high costs, inadequacy and redundancy.
After the site was closed, the facility lay abandoned. The buildings are difficult to reach and remain in a deteriorating condition, most without windows, abandoned to the elements.[2] In 1991, a major cleaning operation was performed at the site, involving theIcelandic Defence Force and local SAR units.[5] The site remains a popular hiking destination.[2]
In the 1990s theIceland Air Defence System was being established, and a location closer to transport links and population centres was chosen, and therefore a new H-4 was established atBolafjall (H-4), nearBolugnarvík.
