Contributed by James E. Bollinger, SSgt, 353CTS/QAE

NWS is a joint US / Canadian program designed to replace thirty-one Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line radars, located across northern Alaska and Canada. Fifteen GE AN/AN/FPS-117 long-range radars (LRR) are already in place, and thirty-nine UNISYS AN/FPS-124 Unattended Radars (UARS) will be installed. Three other LRRs have been installed at new sites on the Eastern Labrador coast. Maintenance Control Facilities (MCFS) will be collocated with the Alaskan Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC) and Canadian Sector Operations Control Center (SOCC) to provide remote control of UAR sites. A satellite communications network will provide connectivity between the LRPS, UARS, MCFS, and the ROCC/SOCCs. UL-IT Ground-to-Air-to-Ground (G/A/G) radios installed at LRRs provide G/A/G communications between the Alaskan and Canadian ROCCs/SOCCs and aircraft in those regions.

Modifications are ongoing to improve the radar system. Manning at the LRRs will be removed following the installation of Remote On-Line Maintenance Systems (ROMS), Remote Analysis Maintenance and Monitoring System (RAMMS) and Reliability, Maintainability, and Supportability (RMS) modifications. These will allow basic status to be monitored and maintenance to be performed from the MCF.