Dover receives $20 million radar system

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Matthew Hubby
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. - --  The air traffic control Airmen who operate the Dover Air Force Base, Del., ATC tower have a new piece of equipment that improves their effectiveness as well as their line of sight over Dover AFB.

The Digital Airport Surveillance Radar replaced the older analog radar March 19, 2011, at the cost of approximately $20 million. The DASR provides an efficient, reliable and accurate radar platform as well as energy savings.

"This new unit was ready out of the box," said Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Caldwell, 436th Operations Support Squadron air traffic systems specialist. "It proved to be a seamless transition for air traffic control."

The DASR detects both aircraft and weather by sending out a pulse, which bounces off objects and returns to the receiver. The unit rotates 12 times a minute, sending out a pulse every five seconds.

The DASR covers airspace from the surface up to 7,000 feet and out to 40 miles from Dover AFB. It can also be converted to cover 120 miles and has a maximum ceiling of more than 35,000 feet.

The new radar also comes equipped with a Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar, which interrogates the transponders of aircraft entering Dover AFB airspace and returns the information to the Airmen in the radar approach control section of the tower. Dover AFB handles approximately 65,000 military and civilian aircraft operations a year.

"We set the MSSR to identify aircraft within 60 miles," said Airman 1st Class Tyler Bagby, 436th Communications Squadron. "However, it has a total effective range of 120 miles, so we can extend our field of view when the need arises. The DASR also operates on two separate motors, which makes maintenance easier as we can run it with either motor should we need to shut one down for repairs."

The Air Force Flight Standards Agency recommends ATC radar have a target detection percentage of 80 percent. The DASR has a target detection percentage of 98 percent, more than meeting the requirement.

"From a maintenance technician standpoint the DASR is a miracle," said Senior Airman David Arceneaux, 436 CS assistant noncommissioned officer-in-charge of ground radar system. "Its enhanced capabilities ensure optimal runtime and while we still perform preventative maintenance the reliability of this machine far exceeds the old analog unit."

The DASR is also used by NORAD and other agencies who also receive the feed from Dover AFB to enhance homeland defense.

"DASR not only enhances our ATC capabilities, it enables us to accomplish the wing mission more effectively," said 1st Lt. Nicholas Sabo, 436 OSS Airfield Operations flight commander. "We do this by utilizing the latest technology to safeguard our flying community."