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The '''North Warning System''' (NWS, {{lang-langx|fr|Système d'alerte du nord}}) is a joint United States and Canadian [[early-warning radar]] system for the atmospheric [[air defense]] of North America. It provides surveillance of airspace from potential incursions or attacks from across North America's polar region. It replaced the [[Distant Early Warning Line]] system in the late 1980s.
 
==Overview==
[[File:North Radar System.png|thumb|right|360px|The North Warning System as part of NORAD radar array as envisioned by Canada and the US in 1987.]]
 
The NWS consists of both long range [[AN/FPS-117]] and short range [[AN/FPS-124]] surveillance radars, operated and maintained by [[North American Aerospace Defense Command]] (NORAD).<ref name="SOW">{{cite web |title=North Warning System (NWS) Office Statement of Work |url=https://buyandsell.gc.ca/cds/public/2021/03/31/4e8d94dff0f4235b75242f90c7650954/sow_-_edt.zip |format=Compressed PDF file |website=Buyandsell.gc.ca |publisher=Public Services and Procurement Canada |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606005827/https://buyandsell.gc.ca/cds/public/2021/03/31/4e8d94dff0f4235b75242f90c7650954/sow_-_edt.zip|archive-date=6 June 2021 |language=en, fr|date=November 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>.{{rp|16}} There are 13 long range sites and 36 short range sites.
 
In Canada, the station sites are owned or leased by the Government of Canada, which also owns most of the infrastructure. The radars and tactical radios are owned by the [[United States Air Force]].<ref name="SOW" />{{rp|16}} The Alaska Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC) at [[Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson|Elmendorf AFB]], Alaska controls the stations in Alaska; the Canada East and Canada West Regional Operations Control Centres (ROCCs) at [[CFB North Bay]], Ontario control the stations in Canada. ROCC information is then passed to the NORAD Combat Operations Centre (COC) at Colorado Springs, Colorado.
 
Each Long Range site consists of accommodation buildings, radar towers and [[radomes]], generator and fuel systems, satellite terminals, automated weather station, and [[UHF]] and [[VHF]] ground-air-ground radio.<ref name="SOW" />{{rp|17}} Short Range sites consist of a single [[AN/FPS-124]] radar, satellite terminals, power generation and fuel systems, and a small emergency shelter that can accommodate six people. Some short range stations lack weather stations and UHF Tactical Radios.<ref name="SOW" />{{rp|17-1817–18, 24}}
 
==History==
The [[Distant Early Warning Line|Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line]], constructed in the late 1950s, was reaching obsolescence in the 1980s. With the signing of North American Air Defence Modernization agreement at the "[[Shamrock Summit]]" between Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney|Mulroney]] and President [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] in Quebec City on 18 March 1985, the DEW Line began its eventual upgrading and transition becoming the North Warning System (NWS) of today.
 
The NWS began limited operation in 1988 with the commissioning and acceptance of the three newly constructed east coast sites BAF-3 [[Brevoort Island]], [[Nunavut]], LAB-2 [[CFS Saglek|Saglek]] and LAB-6 [[Cartwright Long Range Radar Site |Cartwright]], both in [[Labrador]]. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, new NWS LRR radars replaced former DEW Line sites. DEW sites that were not transitioned to North Warning operation were eventually closed down. The official activation of the NWS and inactivation of the DEW Line took place on 15 July 1993.
 
The bi-national North Warning System Office (NWSO) is located in Ottawa, Ontario and staffed with both Canadian and American military and civilian personnel. Staffed sites are operated by the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]], but physically staffed by civilian contractors. Logistical and maintenance support for the NWS is supplied by the [[Air Force Materiel Command]] of the [[United States Air Force]], located at [[Ogden Air Logistics Center]] (OO-ALC), [[Hill Air Force Base]], Utah.
 
== Site remediation==
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== Stations ==
[[File:Edinburgh Island NWT 2.jpg|thumb|right|PIN-DA Short Range Radar site, [[Edinburgh Island]], Nunavut]]
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The NWS consists of 15 long-range [[radar]]s (11 in Canada, of which eight were DEW Line sites) and 39 short-range radars (36 in Canada).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120312075312/http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA268184 Environmental Assessment for North Warning System (Alaska)]</ref> The system forms a {{Convert|4,800|km|abbr=on|0}} long and {{Convert|320|km|abbr=on|0}} wide "[[tripwire]]" stretching from Alaska to southern Labrador. Minimally-attended NWS Long Range Radar AN/FPS-117 radar sites shaded in blue.
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| {{anchor|Cape Dyer}}Established as DEW Main site in 1957; also known as "Site 41". Was expansive facility with airstrip and dock facility for resupplying. DEW operations ended August 1989; minimally-attended NWS Long Range Radar August1989August 1989. Appears{{where|date=March 2019}} that much of the former DEW site facilities remain in use, buildings appear in good repair. Cape Dyer Airport {{Airport codes||CYVN}} is listed in the [[Canada Flight Supplement]] as abandoned.<ref name="cfs"/>
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| BAF-2
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== Distant Early Warning Line sites not included ==
{{kmlgeoGroup|section=Distant Early Warning Line sites not included}}
The following table lists the DEW Line sites not included in the NWS. Most of these sites not included were Intermediate sites closed in 1963 when they were declared obsolete. The stations consisted of a module train, a warehouse, a vehicle garage, an [[Inuit]] house, POL (''P''etroleum, ''O''il, ''L''ubricant) tanks and a continuous wave radar tower. Others were some Auxiliary sites that were replaced with new NWS stations. DEW Line stations in the [[Aleutian Islands]] of Alaska were inactivated due to budget reductions in 1969. The [[DYE Stations]] in [[Greenland]] and [[Iceland]] were transferred to the USAF [[85th Group|Air Forces Iceland]] in 1980.
 
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==Further reading==
* Lackenbauer, Farish, Arthur-Lackenbauer (2005). [httphttps://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/aina/DEWLineBib.pdf ''The Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line: A Bibliography and Documentary Resource List'']. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220218092017/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/aina/DEWLineBib.pdf Archived] from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2024. The Arctic Institute of North America. {{ISBN|1-894788-01-X}} .
* [http://www.tunngavik.com/documents/publications/2007-03-17-NTI-Contaminated-Sites-Devolution-Paper.pdf Contaminated Sites in Nunavut] [https://web.archive.org/web/20230708182512/https://www.tunngavik.com/documents/publications/2007-03-17-NTI-Contaminated-Sites-Devolution-Paper.pdf Archived] from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2024
 
==External links==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Warning_System"