"Each control site, along with its underground launcher site (the actual location of the Nike missile) will form a defense ring around Loring, protecting it from hostile air attack...each of the four units is capable of firing four missiles simultaneously."
- Maine Nike Guided Missile Installation Moving Ahead
Lewiston Evening Journal
In the past I've written about the Nike missile and its nuclear capabilities and have made efforts to share the photos posted over at ColdWarRelics.com of the sites in Connor, Caswell and Limestone.
Sitting atop a hill overlooking Caribou is a radome that is currently part of the long range joint surveillance system used by the Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration. What interests me more is the fact that the site used to be a part of the fire control for Loring's last-ditch nuclear defenses. All that remains is a single radome currently in use by the Air Force/Federal Aviation Administration, formerly the high powered target acquisition radar unit that would have worked in conjunction with anti jamming devices, target tracking and missile tracking radar units. Smaller radomes and antennae would have surrounded this site, each having their own function working toward the goal of intercepting enemy air attacks.
The image above is taken from a fantastic resource - NikeMissile.org. Integrated Fire Control sites came in two flavors, consolidated and unconsolidated depending on the amount of real estate available. As the site is now used by the FAA/USAF, none of the original equipment and buildings remain. However a site exists in California which has been turned into a museum that lets you see it as it would have been.
Below is a collection of news articles courtesy of Google's News Archive regarding these sites and their control centers:
- 2/27/1957 - New Missile for Maine Defense Sites, Lewiston Evening Journal.
- 2/22/1958 - Maine Nike Guided Missile Installation Moving Ahead, Lewiston Evening Journal.
- 5/25/1958 - A- Missile bases Due Across US, Reading Eagle.
http://nikemissile.org/RCDC.shtml
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