Niagara Falls Air Force Missile Site

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"35th Air Defense Missile Squadron" redirects here. For other uses, see 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron (disambiguation).
Niagara Falls Air Force Missile Site
Part of Syracuse Air Defense Sector
Location
E of Tuscarora Rd, W of drainage ditch along Niagara Falls Air Force Base, 5.1 mi (8.2 km) ENE of the city
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Type surface-to-air missile base
Site information
Controlled by 1961-8: Airdefensecommand-logo.jpg Air Defense Command
1968-9: USAF - Aerospace Defense Command.png Aerospace Defense Command
Garrison information
Garrison 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron - ADC - Emblem.png 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron

The "Niagara Falls AF Msl Site"[1]:{{{3}}}[2] (large blue marker with arrow, left) was 1 of 2 BOMARC bases in New York (BOMARC Base No. 1 was in New Jersey, BB#2 was on Long Island). NE New York defenses protected Cold War industrial complexes of the eastern Great Lakes (cities in red). A nearby BOMARC Radio Site (not shown) was for transmitting ground-controlled interception commands generated at DC-03 to launched missiles based on tracking data from SAGE radars such as Z-49 & Z-21 (partially obscured).

Z-21 at Lockport AFS was co-located with the Project Nike Army Air Defense Command Post for the 1961 Niagara Falls-Buffalo Defense Area which included numerous missile sites (3 shown in green).

The Niagara Falls Air Force Missile Site[1]:{{{3}}} was a Cold War USAF launch complex for Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air missiles. Equipped only IM-99Bs (46 missiles: solid-state, solid-fuel booster),[3]:{{{3}}} the site had 48[4]:{{{3}}} Model IV "coffin" shelters,[5] after an initial design with a secure area of ~20 acres (8.1 ha) to have 28 shelters (the planned site had additional area for 84 "future shelters").[6] Launch control for the site's missiles was by central NY's "Hancock Field combined direction-combat center" (CC-01/DC-03) at Syracuse, New York. DC-03 was operational on December 1, 1958;[7]:{{{3}}} (CC-01 was the "first SAGE regional battle post", beginning operations "in early 1959".)[8]:{{{3}}}

Construction began in 1959.[9] The missile site and squadron were activated on 1 June 1960, and missiles were operational on 1 December 1961. In January 1962 the RF-62E gap filler radar site at Brookfield in Ohio became a "major off-base…installation" of the Niagara Falls site, transferred from Wright-Patterson AFB.[1]:{{{3}}} In 1962, command of the BOMARC base transferred from Col. John A. Sarosy[10] to Col James L. Livingston.[11]

The site was the 1st BOMARC B launch complex to close, on 31 December 1969.[12][13] The closure was part of a realignment of "307 military bases".[14] The missile site was vacant until turned over to the Niagara Falls Municipal Airport[15][not in citation given] ("international airport" 1 July 1985). The 1959 "Access Road" is now Johnson Street of the "Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station (NFARS) Fuel Depot", built over the area of the BOMARC shelters, which are still visible. The former northwest corner of the missile site is the current Tuscarora Road military gate.[4]

Squadron

  • Constituted as the 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC) on 17 December 1959
Activated on 1 June 1960 in the Syracuse Air Defense Sector
Transferred to the Detroit Air Defense Sector (4 September 1963), 34th Air Division (1 April 1966), 35th Air Division (15 September 1969), 21st Air Division (19 November 1969)
Inactivated on 31 December 1969
Consolidated with the 35th Bombardment Squadron, Light as the 35th Tactical Missile Squadron on 19 September 1985 (remained inactive)[16][verification needed]
External images
image icon 1959 plan w/28 shelters
image icon overhead views
image icon NFARS Fuel Depot with BOMARC foundations

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://www.legacy.library.ucsf.edu/documentStore/e/x/u/exu85f00/Sexu85f00.pdf
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://wikimapia.org/22761840/Former-BOMARC-Missile-Site
  5. ↑ http://www.techbastard.com/missile/bomarc/niagara_afb.php
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ [1]
  10. ↑ http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2011/North%20Tonawanda%20NY%20Evening%20News/North%20Tonawanda%20NY%20Evening%20News%201962%20%20Grayscale/North%20Tonawanda%20NY%20Evening%20News%201962%20%20Grayscale%20-%201000.pdf
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ http://www.militarymuseum.org/BOMARC.html
  13. ↑ [2]
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ compiled by Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ [full citation needed] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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