AN/FPS-80 radars. Becoming operational in 1977, Cobra Dane also had a primary mission of monitoring Soviet tests of missiles launched from southwest Russia aimed at the Siberian Kamchatka peninsula. This large, single-faced, phased-array radar was the most powerful ever built. The FPS-80 was a tracking radar and the FPS-17 was a detection radar for Soviet missiles. Both were part of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS). The large detection radar (AN/FPS-17) went into operation in 1960. In 1961, the AN/FPS-80 tracking radar was constructed nearby. These radars were closed in the 1970s. The Pirinclik (near Diyarbakir, Turkey) intelligence collection radar site ultimately consisted of one detection radar (FPS-17) and one mechanical tracking radar (FPS-79). The Pirinclik radars were operated by the 19th Surveillance Squadron. The FPS-17 radar reached IOC on 1 June 1955 and the FPS-79 in 1964. Both radars operated at a UHF (432 MHz) frequency. Although limited by their mechanical technology, Pirinclik's two radars gave the advantage of tracking two objects simultaneously in real time. Its location close to the southern Former Soviet Union made it the only ground sensor capable of tracking actual deorbits of Russian space objects. In addition, the Pirinclik radar was the only 24-hour-per-day eastern hemisphere deep space sensor. Radar operations at Pirinclik were terminated in March 1997. AN/FPS-17 With the Soviet Union apparently making rapid progress in its rocket program, in 1954 the United States began a program to develop a long range surveillance radar. General Electric Heavy Military Electronics Division (HMED) in Syracuse, NY was the prime contractor and Lincoln Laboratory was a subcontractor. This detection radar, the AN/FPS-17, was conceived, designed, built, and installed for operation in nine months. The first installation, designated AN/FPS-17(XW-1) was at Diyarbakir (Pirinclik), Turkey, to detect Soviet launches. A second system, designated AN/FPS-17(XW-2), was installed at Laredo AFS (about northeast of Laredo AFB) in Texas, to track rockets launched from White Sands, New Mexico, and serve as a radar test bed. A third system, designated AN/FPS-17(XW-3), was installed on Shemya Island, Alaska, to detect Soviet launches. The Diyarbakir FPS-17 became operational in June 1955, the Laredo installation in February 1956, and Shemya in May 1960. The first two installations closed without replacements; the Shemya installation was replaced by the Cobra Dane (AN/FPS-108) radar. The FPS-17 antenna featured a fixed parabolic torus section reflector that typically stood high and wide and was illuminated by an array