Latrar Air Station

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Latrar Air Station
Part of Air Forces Iceland
Latrar AS Location of Latrar Air Station, Iceland
Coordinates	66°10′41″N 023°19′41″W / 66.17806°N 23.32806°W / 66.17806; -23.32806 (Latrar AS H-4A)Coordinates: 66°10′41″N 023°19′41″W / 66.17806°N 23.32806°W / 66.17806; -23.32806 (Latrar AS H-4A)
Type	Air Force Station
Site information
Owner	NATO
Controlled by	Iceland air defence system
Condition	operational
Site history
Built	1992
In use	1992-in use
Garrison information
Past commanders	United States Air Force

Latrar Air Station (NATO ID: H-4A) is a former United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 153.2 miles (246.6 km) north of Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland. It was closed on 28 June 2006 as part of the closure of United States military facilities in Iceland, after the dissolution of the Iceland Defense Force.

Air policing operations in Latrar Air Station are still ongoing, under the joint direction of NATO and the Icelandic Coast Guard.^[1]

History[]

Latrar Air Station was established as a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) radar station in 1992, replacing the original NATO AC&W radar site at Straumnes AS, (H-4). The station is located atop a mountain named Bolafjall near the village of Bolungarvik, about 30 km to the north-northeast of H-4.

It was operated by the 934th Air Control Squadron and was equipped with an AN/FPS-117v5 radar.

The mission of the station was to intercept and shadow all Soviet aircraft in transit in and from the GIUK gap which passed through the detection range of its radars and relay to the NAS Keflavik Radar Operations Control Center (ROCC).

Nowadays the station is an integral part of the Iceland Air Defence System and allows the country to inspect and protect its airspace.

Latrar Air Station atop mount Bolafjall, Bolungarvik

See also[]

• List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations

References[]

Notes[]

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
• Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.