 | This article includes alist of references,related reading, orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Rye Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part ofAir Defense Command (ADC) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force Station (radar station) |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Location | |
  Rye AFS Location of Rye AFS, New Hampshire | |
| Coordinates | 43°02′41″N070°42′51″W / 43.04472°N 70.71417°W /43.04472; -70.71417 (Rye AFS M-104) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1956 |
| In use | 1956-1957 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 644th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
Rye Air Force Station (ADC ID: M-104) is a closedUnited States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 3.1 miles (5.0 km) southeast ofPortsmouth, New Hampshire in what is nowOdiorne Point State Park. It was closed in 1957.
Rye AFS was part of the planned deployment of 44 mobile radar stations byAir Defense Command in 1952 to provide protection forStrategic Air Command Bases (such as the nearbyPease Air Force Base) and to support thepermanent deployment of the 75 stations of the ADC radar network around the perimeter of the country. This deployment had been projected to be operational by mid-1952. Funding, constant site changes, construction, and equipment delivery delayed deployment.
Constructed at the formerFort Dearborn coastal artillery site, the station became operational in 1956 when the644th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron activated anAN/TPS-1D radar at the site, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guideinterceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes.
It was soon closed due to a budget reduction in 1957. The site was re-equipped with anAN/FPS-14 and became an unmanned Gap Filler forNorth Truro AFS, Massachusetts, as siteFort Dearborn, P-10B. It was finally closed in June 1968.
Today, the site is the location ofOdiorne Point State Park. Many former parts of Fort Dearborn remain. Rye AFS has been obliterated.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
