AN/FPQ-16

The AN/FPQ-16 is a C-band precision tracking radar system primarily used for missile range instrumentation. It provides highly accurate real-time tracking data for missiles, aircraft, and space objects.

Developed by General Electric in the late 1960s as part of the Safeguard Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) program, the AN/FPQ-16 was designed to detect and track incoming Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles. The massive phased-array radar system officially entered service in 1975 at the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex in North Dakota. Following the rapid decommissioning of the Safeguard treaty-limited site in 1976, the radar was transferred to the U.S. Air Force to serve as a dedicated missile warning and space surveillance asset. Today, the sole AN/FPQ-16 installation at Cavalier Space Force Station remains fully operational under the U.S. Space Force, tracking thousands of orbital objects daily.