AN/FPQ-16 PARCS

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The AN/FPQ-16 Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System (PARCS) is a powerful United States Space Force passive electronically scanned array radar system located in North Dakota. It is the second most powerful phased array radar system in the US Space Force's fleet of missile warning and space surveillance systems, behind the more modern PAVE PAWS phased array radar. PARCS was built by General Electric as the Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR), part of the US Army's Safeguard Program anti-ballistic missile system. PAR provided early warning of incoming ICBMs at ranges up to 2,000 miles (3,200 km), feeding data to the interceptor station, equipped with a shorter-range radar. The PAR and other systems were collectively known as the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex. With the signing of the ABM Treaty in 1972, the U.S. was limited to a single ABM base protecting missile fields. A second partially completed PAR in Montana, about 60 miles (97 km) north of Great Falls, between...

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