High Energy Laser System Test Facility (HELSTF)

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This US Army site was originally developed as a radar testing facility for the ARPA MAR radar, part of the Nike-X program. It is currently used as the High-Energy Laser Test Facility (HELSTF).

MAR-I was constructed starting in 1963 to test the performance of phase-array radars in the anti-ballistic missile role. The Army had been developing the Nike Zeus system using mechanically steered radars, but these would not be able to keep up with an attack containing dozens of incoming missiles. When ARPA was asked to look for solutions, they began development of Nike-X, which included new high-performance radars and computers that could track hundreds of objects. MAR proved far too expensive to deploy on a nationwide basis, so simplified versions known as TACMAR and then CAMAR were developed. Ultimately all MAR-like radars were abandoned in favour of the much simpler MSR system.

HELSTF became operational on September 6, 1985 when the Air Force conducted the first Lethality and Target Hardening (LTH-l) program test for the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). HELSTF has been managed by the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command (USASSDC) since October 1990. Prior to that, the facility was under the command of Commander, White Sands Missile Range. Primary support for operation and maintenance of the SDC-managed facility is currently provided by Lockheed Engineering and Science Company (LESC). The Navy is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the MIRACL and the SEALITE Beam Director through its contractors, TRW and Hughes Aircraft.