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Cavalier Space Force Station

Cavalier Space Force Station, North Dakota, is a United States Space Force installation, where the 10th Space Warning Squadron, Space Delta 4, United States Space Force monitors and tracks potential missile launches against North America with the GE AN/FPQ-16 Enhanced Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System (PARCS). The PARCS also monitors and tracks over half of all earth-orbiting objects to enable space situation awareness and space control. In addition to contractors, NORAD has US and Canadian military members assigned to the facility.

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Jul 17, 2026
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Cavalier Space Force Station
Near Cavalier, North Dakota in United States
The AN/FPQ-16 PARCS solid state phased array radar system at Cavalier AFS.
The AN/FPQ-16 PARCS solid state phased array radar system at Cavalier AFS.
Emblem of Space Base Delta 2
Site information
TypeUS Space Force station
OwnerDepartment of Defense
OperatorUnited States Space Force
Controlled bySpace Base Delta 2
ConditionOperational
Radar type
AN/FPQ-16 PARCS
Location
Cavalier SFS
Location in the United States
Show map of North Dakota
Cavalier SFS
Cavalier SFS (the United States)
Show map of the United States
Coordinates48°43′55″N 97°54′16″W / 48.73194°N 97.90444°W / 48.73194; -97.90444
Site history
BuiltError: All values must be integers (help)
In use1977 – present
Garrison information
Occupants10th Space Warning Squadron

Cavalier Space Force Station, North Dakota, is a United States Space Force installation, where the 10th Space Warning Squadron, Space Delta 4, United States Space Force monitors and tracks potential missile launches against North America with the GE AN/FPQ-16 Enhanced Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System (PARCS). The PARCS also monitors and tracks over half of all earth-orbiting objects to enable space situation awareness and space control.1 In addition to contractors, NORAD has US and Canadian military members assigned to the facility.

AN/FPQ-16 PARCS

The AN/FPQ-16 PARCS building at Cavalier. source ↗

The AN/FPQ-16 PARCS is a solid state phased array radar system housed "on a plain just east of the Pembina Escarpment"2 in a 37 m (121 ft)1 with a single-faced phased array radar pointed northward over Hudson Bay.3 In normal operation PARCS can spot an object the size of a basketball (24 cm) at 3000 km (2000 miles). Tests during the 1970s and 1980s showed that with proposed software updates (not carried out) it could spot objects less than 9 cm in size.4 It analyzes more than 20,000 tracks per day, from giant satellites to space debris.3

The PARCS building includes an underground power plant with five, 16 cylinder dual-fuel (diesel/natural gas) engines manufactured by Cooper Bessemer driving 5 General Electric generators for a total output of 14 megawatts.5

History

Former sign at entrance to Cavalier Air Force Station.
Sign at entrance to Cavalier. source ↗

The facility was built as one site of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex for the Safeguard Program's anti-ballistic missile defense, with the PAR providing detection data for computing preliminary trajectories to be provided to the Missile Site Radar6 (the complex was deactivated in 1976). On 3 October 1977, the site was transferred to the United States Air Force and expanded it into the Concrete Missile Early Warning System (CMEWS) named for the nearby Concrete ND community.78

The military installation was named for the nearby town of Cavalier, North Dakota in 1983 when Concrete's post office closed.

BAE Systems maintained the PARCS site from 2003 - 2017.9

Summit Technical Solutions, LLC took over the Operations, Maintenance and Logistics support of the PARCS site in October 2017.

On 30 July 2021 Cavalier Air Force Station was renamed Cavalier Space Force Station.10

Based units

Notable units based at Cavalier Air Force Station.11

United States Space Force

Space Force Combat Forces Command (CFC)

The 10th SWS is a Geographically Separate Unit, which although based at Cavalier, is subordinate to Space Delta 4 based at Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado.12

References

References

  1. "10th Space Warning Squadron". Peterson Air Force Base. Archived from the original on 2008-01-23.
  2. "Perimeter Acquisition Radar (Safeguard PAR)".
  3. Kuhn, Tom (March 1999). "On The Lone Prairie". Airman Magazine. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007.
  4. "Space Surveillance Sensors: The PARCS (Cavalier) Radar (April 12, 2012)". MostlyMissileDefense.com. 2012-04-12.
  5. tbd, Mark (2011). "Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR), Concrete, ND". Cold War Tourist webpage. Archived from the original (trip report) on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  6. "Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR) Complex".
  7. Jim Godfrey. "Cavalier Air Force Station: Instant to Watchful Instant". Peterson Air Force Base. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10.
  8. Historical Office. "The U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command: A Chronological Review of 60 Years" (PDF). U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2026-05-15. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  9. "BAE Systems Awarded $60 Million in U.S. Air Force Contract Extensions to Maintain Space Radar and Telescope Systems". BAE Systems. November 27, 2012.
  10. "Cavalier AFS renamed as U.S. Space Force installation".
  11. "Fact Sheet – Space Delta 4 - Missile Warning". Buckley Air Force Base. US Space Force. July 2020. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  12. "Fact Sheet – Space Delta 4 - Missile Warning". Buckley Air Force Base. US Space Force. July 2020. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
External links