United States Navy AN/TPS-71 ROTHR (Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar) Receiver Site (Juana Díaz)
Puerto Rico /
Guayama /
Juana Diaz /
Juana Díaz /
PR-149
World
/ Puerto Rico
/ Guayama
/ Juana Diaz
World / Puerto Rico
military, radar station, United States Navy
This AN/TPS-71 radar array is the receiver site of the ROTHR (Relocatable Over the Horizon Radar) located in Vieques and Juana Díaz. It is the third and final of its type to be installed, extending counterdrug surveillance past the equator, deep into South America.
Fleet Surveillance Support Command was established in July 1987 to operate the Navy's Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar (ROTHR) in support of Fleet units worldwide. This unique radar system was originally designed to provide tactical warning to battle group commanders of air and surface threats at an extended range allowing time for responsive engagement. Two US Navy high-frequency (HF) over-the-horizon (OTH) radars known as ROTHR (Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar) are operated at Corpus Christi TX and Chesapeake VA, with coverage of the Caribbean Sea and portions of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The ROTHRs in Virginia and Texas are presently in full-time use for counter-narcotics surveillance, and a third is scheduled for installation in Puerto Rico in the near future.
The High Frequency Band (3 to 30 MHz) is a candidate for radar because it enables surface to surface radar to target distances well beyond the horizon. Radar to target ranges of 1000 nmi and more are typical. Use of the 10 to 60 meter wavelengths associated with HF radar requires physically large antennas. Each ROTHR achieves a nominal half degree azimuth angular resolution with a 2.58-km-long linear phased receiving array consisting of 372 twin-monopole elements. Each monopole pair has a receiver and analog-to-digital converter attached to it. A digital beamformer forms 18 beams which are then Doppler processed to separate the moving targets from the ground clutter. Range resolution is achieved by transmitting a 25-kHz continuous frequency-modulated waveform. A radar resolution cell on the ocean surface is therefore about 6 km in range by about 15 km in azimuth, for the frequency and range used. Radar frequency is variable and is selected using real-time sweep frequency ionospheric soundings.
www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/airdef/an-tps-71.htm
Fleet Surveillance Support Command was established in July 1987 to operate the Navy's Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar (ROTHR) in support of Fleet units worldwide. This unique radar system was originally designed to provide tactical warning to battle group commanders of air and surface threats at an extended range allowing time for responsive engagement. Two US Navy high-frequency (HF) over-the-horizon (OTH) radars known as ROTHR (Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar) are operated at Corpus Christi TX and Chesapeake VA, with coverage of the Caribbean Sea and portions of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The ROTHRs in Virginia and Texas are presently in full-time use for counter-narcotics surveillance, and a third is scheduled for installation in Puerto Rico in the near future.
The High Frequency Band (3 to 30 MHz) is a candidate for radar because it enables surface to surface radar to target distances well beyond the horizon. Radar to target ranges of 1000 nmi and more are typical. Use of the 10 to 60 meter wavelengths associated with HF radar requires physically large antennas. Each ROTHR achieves a nominal half degree azimuth angular resolution with a 2.58-km-long linear phased receiving array consisting of 372 twin-monopole elements. Each monopole pair has a receiver and analog-to-digital converter attached to it. A digital beamformer forms 18 beams which are then Doppler processed to separate the moving targets from the ground clutter. Range resolution is achieved by transmitting a 25-kHz continuous frequency-modulated waveform. A radar resolution cell on the ocean surface is therefore about 6 km in range by about 15 km in azimuth, for the frequency and range used. Radar frequency is variable and is selected using real-time sweep frequency ionospheric soundings.
www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/airdef/an-tps-71.htm
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-horizon_radar
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 18°0'41"N 66°30'18"W
- Camp Santiago Joint Manuever Training Center 19 km
- Base desactivada. Sabana Seca South Tract 57 km
- Fort Buchanan, US Army 60 km
- Roosevelt Roads Naval Station (Closed) 92 km
- US Navy Range/Roosevelt Roads Naval Station (Former) 126 km
- Isla de Aves 397 km
- Fuerte Tiuna: Cuarteles y Hospital Militar. 840 km
- Barcelona (Venezuela) (BLA) International Airport 899 km
- Baza Lotnicza im. kpt Manuela Riosa 962 km
- Tiriós Airbase - Brazil 2099 km
- Villas de Río Cañas 3.7 km
- Pueblo 4.5 km
- Lomas 5.3 km
- Luis Lloréns Torres 5.6 km
- Jacaguas 5.8 km
- Playita Cortada 7.8 km
- Descalabrado 9 km
- Juana Díaz Maritime Zone 11 km
- Santa Isabel Maritime Zone 16 km
- Ponce Maritime Zone 16 km