AN/FPS-49, 49A

RCA was prime contractor for this large radar for use in the BMEWS program and the satellite-tracking program that deployed in the 1960s. The antenna was built by Goodyear in Akron, Ohio. The prototype unit operated at Moorestown, New Jersey.Production units were installed in Greenland, Alaska and England. The radar frequency operated in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) 2-meter band (just outside the amatuer radio band) and could track objects beyond 3,000 miles.

An FPS-49 antenna under construction in one of the Goodyear blimp hangars at Goodyear in Akron, Ohio. The elevation pivot center is approximately 47 feet off the floor.

Additional notes on the AN/FPS-49

The AN/FPS-49 tracker at Thule during installation, spring 1961.

There is a crew of either two or three high steel workers in the basket hanging from the crane.


The RAF Fylingdales BMEWS site, with three


AN/FPS-49 radomes in the background and the


phased array radar system that replaced them


in the foreground.

MIL HDBK-162B Pages