AN/FPS-17

The AN/FPS-17 was a ground-based, fixed-beam, surveillance radar system. First installed at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas, the AN/FPS-17 was used to track rockets launched from White Sands, New Mexico. It was equipped with a fixed-fence antenna that stood 175 feet high and 110 feet wide. The radar transmitter sent out a VHF pulse at a frequency between 180 to 220 MHz. AN/FPS-17 units were installed in the late 1950s at Shemya Island in the Aleutians and in Turkey. The unit at Shemya subsequently was replaced by the Cobra Dane (AN/FPS-108) radar.