AN/CPS-6 Radar

The AN/CPS-6 was an S-band medium-range search/height finder radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. The radar was developed during the later stages of World War II by the MIT Radiation Laboratory with the first units produced by General Electric in mid-1945.
In accordance with the Joint Electronics Type Designation System, the "AN/CPS-6" designation represents the 6th design of an Army-Navy air transportable electronic device for search radar equipment. The JETDS system also now is used to name all Department of Defense electronic systems.

Development

Subsequent development of the AN/CPS-6A and AN/CPS-6B models saw them produced at a plant in Syracuse, New York. The radar set consisted of two antennae, with one slanted at a 45-degree angle providing the height-finder capability. Designed to detect fighter aircraft at a range of and a height of up to, the radar utilized five transmitters operating at S-band frequencies ranging between. It required twenty-five people to operate the radar.

History

In 1949, an AN/CPS-6 radar was installed as part of the Lashup Radar Network at Twin Lights, New Jersey, proving capable of detecting targets at ranges of. The first units of the follow-on AN/CPS-6B, ready for installation by mid-1950, saw fourteen of these assigned within the first permanent Lashup network.
A component designed to improve the radar's range was added in 1954. Tests showed the 6B-model had a range of with an altitude limit of. A single radar unit with its ancillary electronic equipment required eighty-five freight cars for transport. The Air Force phased out the 6B-model between mid-1957 and mid-1959.
Another radar, developed from the CPS-6, was the AN/FPS-10. It was essentially a stripped-down version of the AN/CPS-6B. Thirteen of these units served within the first permanent Lashup network.