Red Cliff Air Station


Red Cliff Air Station was a General Surveillance Radar station. The remains of which are located north-northeast of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It was closed in 1961.

History

During World War II a US-manned battery of two 8-inch railway guns was at Red Cliff, part of Fort Pepperrell at St. John's.
The site was established in 1953 as a General Surveillance Radar station, funded by the United States Air Force, one of the many that would make up the Pinetree Line of Ground-Control Intercept radar sites.
Northeast Air Command stationed the 642d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at the station on 1 January 1953. The site was the most eastern ground radar site in North America of the USAF. It operated the following radars:
As a GCI base, the 642d's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. These interceptors were assigned to the 64th Air Division at Goose AFB, Labrador.
The station was reassigned to Aerospace Defense Command on 1 April 1957, and was given designation "N-22" :
The Elliston Ridge site operated between 1957 and 1961 in a relatively isolated location on the Bonavista Peninsula, about 70 miles northwest of the main station. Parts of the station remain intact, although abandoned to the elements since its closure. Broadcasting station CJOZ-FM maintains and transmits from a building and tower on the same property of the Eliston Ridge site.
Red Cliff Air Station was closed on 1 October 1961. Today the site is abandoned, unused since its closure Most of the structures remain, abandoned and deteriorating since its inactivation. It is occasionally used by local militia units as a Fighting in Built-up Areas training area. The area is also used by local graffiti artists, as well as paintball and airsoft players.

USAF units and assignments

Units:
Assignments: