HAPDAR radar

 military, radar station

 Upload a photo

After Nike Zeus was cancelled, a new system known as Nike-X replaced it. Nike-X used phased-array radars in place of Zeus' mechanically-steered versions. The overall battle and long-range tracking was to be completed by the Multi-function Array Radar (MAR), a prototype of which was built some distance north of LC36 just on the far side of Route 70.

When the Army started developing Nike-X it was positioned as a system to defend large cities. ARPA, who had initially laid out the Nike-X concept, continued developing different concepts based on the same radars and missiles. One concept that seemed promising was "Hardpoint", a very short-range system who's task was to identify which incoming warheads would fall close enough to Minuteman silos and shoot just those ones. Ones falling too far away to do damage would be ignored.

Hardpoint had to wait until the last possible moment to fire, especially in the case where the reentry vehicles might maneuver - initially approaching on a line that looked like a miss and then changing direction. To handle this, a new radar system with short range but very rapid tracking performance was needed.

This radar, known as HAPDAR (HArd Point Demonstration Array Radar) was installed during 1965. It was built on top of the building that formerly housed the computers for the Zeus Acquisition Radar, which was no longer being used. It was used with Sprint and HiBEX launches taking place just to the northwest.