I. Description of Operations Financed

The National Military Command System (NMCS) site is the DOD’s crisis management center supporting the nation’s Strategic Watch mission. It is the center of all Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) activity. The Center provides effective coordination and liaison with other US government agencies such as the White House Situation Room, the Department of State, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency.

The Joint Surveillance System (JSS) consists of fifty-two sites. There are twelve JSS sensors in Alaska (12 joint FAA-USAF sites), while there are forty in the CONUS (39 joint FAA-USAF sites and 1 USAF site). These sites provide command, control, and communications (C3) and air surveillance capability in support of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) atmospheric Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment (TW/AA), air sovereignty, and air defense requirements.
The program consists of joint-use radars located around the periphery of the CONUS, three Sector Air Operations Centers (SAOCs) in the CONUS, and three Regional Air Operations Centers (RAOCs). The SAOC and RAOC together provide command and control of forces for airspace control and air defense against atmospheric attack. The R/SAOCs receive sensor data from radar sites to detect, track, identify, and intercept, if necessary, aircraft penetrating U.S. sovereign airspace.
In 1985, the US and Canada agreed to replace the aging Distant Early Warning (DEW) line with a network of fifty-four new radars. The new network, known as the North Warning System (NWS), consists of fifteen Minimally Attended Radars (MARs) and thirty-nine Gap Filler Unattended Radars (UARs) and one engineering log set radar at the depot. The program is jointly funded on a 60/40 (US/Canada) basis.
The North Atlantic Defense System (NADS) is a NATO program consisting of four radar sites and a control and reporting center in Iceland operated by the Air Force. NADS provides surveillance radar operations essential to the air defense of Iceland and the North Atlantic.

The Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) provides warning of a limited or mass Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) attack against North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, or a Sea Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) attack within the system's geographical coverage. BMEWS provides attack assessment data to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the United States Space Command, Air Force Space Command, United States Strategic Command, and the National Command Authorities. BMEWS also provides satellite detection and tracking data to the Space Surveillance Network (SSN).

The SLBM Radar Warning System, which consists of five sites (3 operational), detects and provides warning of an SLBM attack against North America through two radar systems: the Phased Array Radar Systems (PAVE PAWS) and the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System (PARCS). PAVE PAWS sites are located at Cape Cod AFS, MA; Beale AFB, CA; Eldorado AFS, TX; and Robins AFB, GA. The Eldorado and Robins Systems are not operational. The Eldorado system was removed entirely and rebuilt at the Clear BMEWS site to replace aging equipment and upgrade the mission. Robins is in cold storage. The PARCS site is at Cavalier AFS, ND. The SLBM system also compliments the Defense Support Program (DSP).
The Over-The-Horizon Radar System - Sectors (Transition to Cold Storage from Warm Storage) provides long range (500 to 200 NM), wide area, all altitude surveillance and tactical warning of aircraft approaching North America. It is composed of two bi-static radar systems: an East Coast radar system and a West Coast radar system. In FY97, both the East Coast and West Coast systems transitioned to cold storage from warm storage. Funds reflect the cold storage.

The Space Defense Interface Network connects Cheyenne Mountain AFB to worldwide sensor sites supporting the Space Control and Space Surveillance missions of the Space Control Center. Another Cheyenne Mountain‑based program, the TW/AA system delivers timely, unambiguous, and accurate integrated TW/AA information to the National Command Authorities, allies, and Unified and Specified Commanders-in-Chief (CINCs). The program includes the Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC) Command, Control, Communications, and Computer (C4) system, a component of the Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade (CMU), which is a program to upgrade and/or replace systems in Cheyenne Mountain, as well as the Air Force Space Command suite of equipment for the Commander‑in‑Chief Mobile Consolidated Command Center (MCCC). CMU completed its final phase of testing on 5 Aug 98, well ahead of the Approved Program Baseline (APB) schedule. The MCCC is a series of ground transportable "trailers" to support the battle staff function. The TW/AA Interface Network provides data and voice communications that link ballistic missile sensor systems to command centers supporting CINCNORAD, USCINCSPACE, USCINCSTRAT, and the National Command Authorities. These circuits provide data necessary to make force management and force survival decisions.