Keno Air Force Station Keno Air Force Station ( ADC ID : TM - 180 , NORAD ID : Z - 180 ) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station . It is located south - southwest of Keno , Oregon . It was closed in 1979 by the Air Force , and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) . Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) , designated by NORAD as Western Air Defense Sector ( WADS ) Ground Equipment Facility J - 82 . History . Keno Air Force Station came into existence as part of Phase III of the Air Defense Command Mobile Radar program . On October 20 , 1953 ADC requested a third phase of twenty - five radar sites be constructed . The site was located east of the Cascade mountains to provide coverage of the air refueling tracks in Northern California . In 1957 , 306 acres of land were acquired for DoD use at the new site . The 827th Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron was assigned to the new station on 1 February 1958 . Logistical support and housing for personnel was provided by Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls , thirteen miles to the east . The squadron initially began operations with an AN / FPS - 20 A search radar and a pair of AN / FPS - 6 A height - finder radars ( one east hemisphere coverage , and one west ) . A Ground - Air Transmit / Receive site ( GATR ) was co - located on the site , with antennas favoring the south toward the air refueling tracks in California . Initially the station functioned as a Ground Control Intercept ( GCI ) and warning station . As a GCI station , the squadron ' s role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruder s picked up on the unit ' s radar scopes . In 1960 Keno became a joint - use facility with the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) , performing air - traffic - control duties . In 1961 the search radar was upgraded and redesignated as an AN / FPS - 67 . During 1962 Keno AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) system , feeding data to DC - 13 at Adair AFS , Oregon . After joining , the squadron was redesignated as the 827th Radar Squadron ( SAGE ) on 1 December 1962 . The radar squadron provided information 24 / 7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range , direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile . In 1963 an AN / FPS - 90 replaced the east hemisphere coverage AN / FPS - 6 height - finder radar , and the search radar was further upgraded to the AN / FPS - 67 B version . On 31 July 1963 , the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z - 180 . In addition to the main facility , Keno operated several AN / FPS - 14 Gap Filler sites : Routine operations continued until 1 March 1970 when the 827th Radar Squadron was inactivated and replaced by the 827th Air Defense Group , operating the BUIC installation . The upgrade to group status was done because of Kingsley Field ' s status as a Backup Interceptor Control ( BUIC ) site . BUIC sites were alternate control sites in the event that SAGE Direction Centers became disabled and unable to control interceptor aircraft . The group was inactivated and replaced by the 827th Radar Squadron . as defenses against manned bombers were reduced . The group was disbanded in 1984 . Over the years , the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars . The Radar Squadron was inactivated 1 October 1979 when operations reverted to an Operating Location of the 25th Air Division at McChord AFB . At the time of its BUIC III inactivation in 1976 , the 827th manned the last operating BUIC III in the western United States . In 1976 the AN / FPS - 90 was removed and sent to the new Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) site at Salem ( Laurel Mtn . / Dallas Oregon ) ( J - 82 ) , where it became operational in 1980 . The remaining height - finder radar , an AN / FPS - 116 , was retired c . 1988 and the station closed , and property transferred to the FAA . In the early 1990s , the abandoned station buildings at the former Keno AFS were removed ( including the sewage lagoon ) and most of the site has been returned to its natural state . Today , only the FAA unattended search radar is functional .