Falling Leaves (radar network)

Falling Leaves was an improvised ballistic missile early warning system of the United States Air Force. It was set up during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and networked 3 existing U.S. radars—2 Space Detection and Tracking System (SPADATS) radars and an Aircraft Control and Warning general surveillance radar which was modified by Sperry Corporation to 1,500 mi (2,400 km) range, allowing detection in space near Cuba.[1] The designation was assigned by the 9th Aerospace Defense Division, headquartered at Ent AFB, Colorado.

Not to be confused with anti-aircraft surveillance radars deployed to Florida during the crisis or the SAC program that granted/rescinded temporary spot promotions for winning the bomb/nav competition.

Soviet R-12 Dvina IRBMs arrived in Cuba on September 8. Intelligence sources in Cuba then reported lengthy missiles transported through towns, and three R-12 sites were photographed by Lockheed U-2s by October 19. Afterwards, the "Cuban Missile Early Warning System (CMEWS)" radars were "realigned" to monitor for nuclear missile launches from the new Soviet launch sites.[2]

The Falling Leaves system used the following:[2]

  • RCA AN/FPS-49 Radar Set prototype[3] of 1961[4]: 54  in New Jersey during development for the under-construction BMEWS Site III which was to have 3 of the tracking radars. The prototype was "withdrawn from SPADATS and realigned to provide missile surveillance over Cuba" on 24 October.[2]
  • AN/FPS-78[2] in Texas, to which was added "real time radar display equipment" from an Alaska radar station.[5] (realigned 26 October)
  • Sperry AN/FPS-35 Frequency Diversity Radar[6] in Alabama, operated by "Task Force Able"[5] and later awarded a Unit Citation for Falling Leaves (698th[1] commanded by Lt. Colonel Kenneth Gordon[5]). (30 October)

Operations

Falling Leaves operations involved the closest radar in Alabama (newly deployed in 1962)[6] sweeping at a lower ballistic missile altitude from Cuba first. "Then a beam from [the farther] Texas radar swept across the top of [the Alabama beam's altitude]. Finally, a radar in New Jersey was adjusted to sweep over the Texas beam."[1] A "Full Bird Colonel" of Task Force Able watched each "sweep go round and round … each of them had a headset, and an open mike [sic] to NORAD."[1] Information communicated to the Ent AFB BMEWS Central Computer and Display Facility was synthesized to provide missile warning to display processors at the Pentagon and Strategic Air Command.

The FPS-49 radar detected a Cape Canaveral Titan II ICBM launch on October 26 (N-12 Mk 6 reentry vehicle test)[7]—the trajectory was determined to be safely Southeastward over the Atlantic Missile Range.[5] On October 28, a test tape inserted at the New Jersey radar site caused a false alarm indicating a missile would impact Tampa[8] and later the same day, an unidentified radar track over Georgia was recognized as a satellite.[9] On November 28 the New Jersey and Texas radars returned to their SPADATS mission, and the Alabama radar continued coverage for Cuba launches until late December.[10]

After the Cuban Missile Crisis, a contract to Bendix Corporation was issued on April 2, 1962 to construct a long range radar at Eglin AFB, FL.[11] Thus a AN/FPS-85 long-range phased-array radar was constructed beginning in October 1962.[4][12]

In 1972, 20% of the FPS-85 "surveillance capability…became dedicated to search for SLBMs.[13]

References
  1. Dobbs, Fred C (August 31, 2006). "Falling Leaves" (military anecdote). It's just Papa. Retrieved 2014-04-17. In early October, 1962, we received word that a special team from Sperry was coming in to extend the range of our receiver by three to five times. This would make it possible for us to see objects up to 1500 miles away. At that range, our beam would be in space due the [sic] curvature of the earth.
  2. North American Air Defense Command Historical Summary (Report).
  3. Bate, Mueller, and White (1971) [origyear tbd]. Fundamentals of Astronautics (Google books). ISBN 9780486600611. Retrieved 2014-03-05. FPS-49 has an 85-foot mechanically-steered dish antenna weighing 106 tons … up to 10° per second.8 The prototype is located at Moorestown, New Jersey{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) ("prototype" is also identified by a webpage.)
  4. Winkler, David F; Webster, Julie L (June 1997). Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program (Report). Champaign, IL: U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. LCCN 97020912. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved 2013-04-23. (transcription available at the Federation of American Scientists website)
  5. Sagan, Scott D (1993). "Chapter 4" (PDF). The Limits of Safety: Organizations, Accidents, and Nuclear Weapons (Chapter excerpt at webpage is the source for Falling Leaves). ISBN 9780691021010. Retrieved 2014-04-16. {{cite book}}: External link in |format= (help)
  6. "AN/FPS-35 Radar - United States Nuclear Forces". fas.org. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
  7. "tbd". Retrieved 2014-04-16. 2 October 26---17:05 GMT---Cape Canaveral LC15. LV Model: Titan 2. Titan II N-12 Mk 6 re-entry vehicle test launch Agency: USAF AFSC. Apogee: 1,300 km (800 mi).
  8. Jeanes, I. (1996). Forecast and Solution: Grappling with the Nuclear, a Trilogy for Everyone. Pocahontas Press. p. 151. ISBN 9780936015620. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
  9. George, Alice L (2003). Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis. UNC Press Books. p. 57. ISBN 9780807861615. Retrieved 2014-04-19 – via Internet Archive. Falling Leaves cuba missile.
  10. NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO , 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996)
  11. North American Air Defense Command Historical Summary (Report).
  12. "20th Space Control Squadron". Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  13. Jane's Radar and Electronic Systems, 6th edition, Bernard Blake, ed. (1994), p. 31 (cited by Winkler)
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