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| CFS Baldy Hughes | |
|---|---|
_location_map.svg)  CFS Baldy Hughes Location of Canadian Forces Station Baldy Hughes, British Columbia | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Radar Station |
| Controlled by |  Royal Canadian Air Force |
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 53°37′06″N122°56′08″W / 53.61833°N 122.93556°W /53.61833; -122.93556 (Baldy Hughes AS C-20) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1953 |
| In use | 1953-1988 |
Canadian Forces Station Baldy Hughes (ADC ID: C-20) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 22.3 miles (35.9 km) south-southwest ofPrince George, British Columbia. It was closed in 1988.
It was operated as part of thePinetree Line network controlled byNORAD.
As a result of theCold War and with the expansion of a North American continental air defence system, The site at Baldy Hughes was selected as a site for aUnited States Air Force (USAF) radar station, one of the many that would make up the Pinetree Line of Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) radar sites. Construction on the base began in 1952 and was completed in 1953.
The base was manned by members of the USAF'sAir Defense Command (ADC)918th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, being known as Baldy Hughes Air Station. In June 1953, operations began at the unit's permanent home. The station was equipped withAN/FPS-3C, AN/FPS-502,AN/FPS-20A; AN/TPS-502, andAN/FPS-6B radars.
As a GCI base, the 918th's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. These interceptors were based at the25th Air Division atMcChord Air Force Base in Washington.
In the early 1960s, the USAF relinquished control of the base to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). This was part of an arrangement with the United States that came as a result of the cancellation of theAvro Arrow. Canada would lease 66F-101 Voodoo fighters and take over operation of 12 Pinetree radar bases.
Upon hand-over on 1 March 1963, the operating unit Became No. 54 Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron and the base becameRCAF Station Baldy Hughes. Radar operations at 54 Squadron were automated on 1 June 1966 by theSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, and the station became a long-range radar site. It would no longer guide interceptors but only look for enemy aircraft, feeding data to theSeattle Air Defense Sector SAGE DC-12 Direction Center of the25th NORAD Region atMcChord AFB, Washington. Radars at the station were also upgraded to the following equipment:
As a result of theunification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, the newCanadian Forces organization absorbed the RCAF, RCN and the Canadian Army. 48 Radar Squadron, RCAF Station Baldy Hughes, became simplyCanadian Forces Station (CFS) Baldy Hughes in 1967.
The station began reporting to the Canada West ROCC in 1983. It was closed in 1988. Today the former station is The Baldy Hughes Addiction Treatment Centre.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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