Remote Radar Head Saxa Vord or RRH Saxa Vord, is a Royal Air Forceradar station located on the island of Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. As of July 2019 it is currently a fully operational radar station, after closure in 2006. The station's motto "Praemoneo de Periculis" reflects its role. RAF Saxa Vord is further north than Leningrad, and on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. The station was named after Saxa Vord, which is the highest hill on Unst at. It holds the unofficial British record for wind speed, which in 1992 was recorded at — just before the measuring equipment blew away.
History
Early years
The island of Unst has played an important part in the defence of the UK since the outbreak of the Second World War. By 1945, there were two radar sites in existence — one on Saxa Vord hill, and the other at Skaw on the east coast. This latter is the older, being built in 1941, and was part of the Chain Home radar network as part of the defences of the Sullom Voe flying boat base. Skaw closed in 1947. Ten years later, 91 Signals Unit was formed, and became fully operational on 5 October 1957.
The AMES Type 80 radar had much greater range than earlier designs, allowing Saxa Vord to provide radar coverage over a large expanse of the North Sea. As part of the overall ROTOR system, installation of a Type 80 started in 1955, but was blown off its mountings by winds gusting to in January 1956. A newly designed Mark II design replaced the original that year. No 91 Signals Unit officially formed up at Saxa Vord on 27 September 1957, was declared operational on 5 October 1957 and in 1960 was visited by Queen Elizabeth II. In the early days, the site was shared with the Royal Navy which worked in the Admiralty building. In the following years, RAF Saxa Vord was a vital part of Britain's air defence during the Cold War. During this period, there was a game of cat-and-mouse, originally with English Electric Lightning, then F-4 Phantom and finally Tornado F3 aircraft, intercepting Soviet TU-95 probing flights and escorting them out of UK airspace. RAF Saxa Vord consisted of three sites: the domestic site, the technical site and the married quarters called Setters Hill Estate. The technical site was originally home to a Type 80search radar, a Type 14 standby reporting radar and a Type 13 height finder. The Type 80 was unfortunately lost when it was blown away on 26 January 1961 and rebuilt with the radome being built in 1963. In 1979, there was a 649 search radar and height finder HF200, and these were planned to be replaced by the Type 93 in the mid-90s as part of the new IUKADGE system. When the Type 93 became obsolete a radical new method was tried. RAF Saxa Vord was a part of the Sector 1 of the UK Air Defence Region. Sector 1 was the airspace north of the 55th parallel north. Being a Control and Reporting Post/ Reporting Post, it passed its radar picture and information to the Sector Operations Centre RAF Buchan, which also received information from the Danish site on the Faroe Islands. It was also home to Shetland Radar, which provided a radar service to civilian helicopters transiting from Aberdeen/Sumburgh and Unst out to the oil fields. In 1984 the station was renamed from No. 91 Signals Unit to Royal Air Force Saxa Vord. The signals unit badge was adopted by the station and it continued with the motto of Praemoneo de periculis.
Downgrading to Remote Radar Head
From around 2000 until 2 April 2004, the station operated as Remote Radar Head Saxa Vord, operated from parent station RAF Buchan. On 2 April 2004, RAF Saxa Vord was upgraded from a Remote Radar Head to a full manned station, taking over control of the radar defences in the area. RAF Buchan was intended be downgraded to a Remote Radar Head.
Closure
In 2005, the RAF announced that RRH Saxa Vord would close. The Type 93 radar was approaching obsolescence and was increasingly difficult to maintain. It was considered that with a reduced threat, funding would be diverted to other defence priorities. RRH Saxa Vord closed in April 2006 with the site being placed on programme of care and maintenance and the radar being dismantled and used for spares in other Type 93 radars. In April 2007, Saxa Vord's Domestic Site and the road up to the Mid Site were bought by Military Asset Management.
