The Cobra Dane Radar Upgrade serves as an advanced L-band radar installation at Eareckson Air Station on Shemya Island, Alaska. Originally engineered to monitor Soviet missile tests, the system underwent significant enhancements in 2004 to incorporate missile defense capabilities. Cobra Dane's primary function involves gathering radar metric and signature data from foreign ballistic missile activities during their flight paths, as well as monitoring space launches to support treaty verification, force modernization, and missile defense initiatives. The system also conducts space surveillance, tracking both cataloged and uncatalogued satellites in low-Earth orbit to enhance Space Domain Awareness operations.
The system's impressive detection range extends to 2,000 miles, delivering missile tracking and classification data with sufficient precision to authorize interceptor launches from the Ground Midcourse Defense system and provide target updates during interceptor flight. With its phased-array technology, Cobra Dane can simultaneously track multiple objects and automatically switches to Missile Defense mode when detecting threatening missiles or receiving alert notifications. During standard operations, it focuses on space surveillance activities.
Initially developed for intelligence collection supporting SALT II arms limitation treaty verification, Cobra Dane transitioned from the Missile Defense Agency to Air Force control in February 2009. By 2015, operational oversight shifted to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Battle Management Directorate, with Raytheon securing a maintenance contract in 2016. Currently, the 13th Space Warning Squadron provides operational support for the radar's missile defense and space domain awareness missions. Cobra Dane’s radar system is due to be upgraded from analog to digital under the Ground Based Radar Digitization (GBRD) project, with a preliminary design review in 2027 and rapid fielding starting in 2030.
Cobra Dane Technical Data
Contractor: Raytheon.
Operator/Location: 13th Space Warning Squadron, Mission Delta 4 (Delta 4), CFC, Eareckson Air Station, Alaska.
IOC: 1976 operational for missile tracking; upgraded for missile defense in 2004.
Active Systems: One radar site.