Cobra Dane


The AN/FPS-108 COBRA DANE is a PESA phased array radar installation operated by Raytheon for the United States Space Force at Eareckson Air Station on the island of Shemya, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The system was built in 1976 and brought online in 1977 for the primary mission of gathering intelligence about Russia's ICBM program in support of verification of the SALT II arms limitation treaty. Its single face diameter phased array radar antenna faces the Kamchatka Peninsula and Russia's Kura Test Range. COBRA DANE operates in the 1215–1400 MHz band and can track items as small as a basketball sized drone at distances of several hundred miles.
The "COBRA" designation indicates a general Defense Intelligence program and, in accordance with the Joint Electronics Type Designation System, the "AN/FPS-108" designation represents the 108th design of an Army-Navy fixed radar electronic device for searching.

Description

It initially employed a Control Data Corporation Cyber 74 mainframe computer for data processing.
Data from the radar is sent to the North American Aerospace Defense Command at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. It is also listed as a partner of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office and works with the Missile Defense Agency, under the control of the 21st Operations Group.
The Cobra Dane radar has been upgraded to be integrated in the Missile Defense Agency's Ballistic Missile Defense System. The improvement includes midcourse BMDS sensor coverage by providing acquisition, tracking, object classification, and data that can be used for cueing, launch of interceptor missiles, and course updates of interceptors while retaining the site's legacy intelligence and space track missions. The Space Force maintains responsibility for the Cobra Dane radar operations, maintenance, and sustainment.

Technical specifications

  • Traveling wave tube l-fed phased-array, all-weather, long-range radar
  • Provides midcourse coverage for the Ballistic Missile Defense System. Detects sea-launched or intercontinental ballistic missiles; Classifies reentry vehicles and other missile objects. Provides real-time information to Fire Control.
  • Provides tracking of threat ballistic missiles sufficiently accurate to commit the launch of interceptors and to update the target tracks to the interceptor while the interceptor is in flight
  • Has one radar face providing 136° of azimuth coverage. The radar face is approximately in diameter; overall radar height is. Detects objects out to. It operates in the L-band frequency.