The first radar deployed by the Air Force at Montauk Point in 1948 was the AN/TPS-1B. Designed by Bell Laboratories and constructed by the Western Electric Corporation, the TPS-1B was a lightweight, portable radar unit that could be broken down into ten packages for simplified transport to remote locations under field conditions. It was utilized by the U.S. Army Air Forces near the end of World War Two.

Operating in the "L-band" frequency range from 1220 to 1280 MHz, this radar was capable of detecting bomber-sized aircraft at distances of up to 120 nautical miles at altitudes of 10,000 feet. A number of these WW2 vintage radars were quickly pressed into service during the late 1940s to provide immediate air defense radar coverage of select sites across the nation prior to the establishment of a more elaborate air defense radar network.

Copyright 2000 by Donald E. Bender. All Rights Reserved.