Globus II Globus II is a radar station located at in Vardø , Norway , near the Russian border . Purpose and use . The site is administrated by the Norwegian Intelligence Service who state the radar is used for : It was previously known as " Have Stare " and located at Vandenberg Air Force Base , California . The radar was made by Raytheon who previously described it on their website as a radar " originally designed to collect intelligence data against ballistic missiles " . The website has since then been removed by request of the Pentagon . The radar , which uses a mechanically steered 27 - meter dish antenna , is believed to have similar , though probably somewhat more limited , capabilities as the newer American Sea - based X - band Radar used in the Anti - ballistic missile system . Controversy . When the radar was built the Norwegian official statement was that it was going to be used to monitor objects in space . Such objects include satellites and space debris . This information was to be added to the orbital database provided by the US Space Command . In April 1998 a Norwegian journalist , Inge Sellevåg , from the daily newspaper Bergens Tidende discovered that NASA had no knowledge of a new radar being added to the system . This led him to suspect it had other purposes and Mr . Sellevåg discovered that it was also going to be used for national purposes such as intelligence gathering . In 2000 , during a storm , the radome was torn off and uncovered the radar - dish . At that time it was pointing directly towards Russia . A local newspaper editor commented : " I ' m not an expert , but I thought space was in the sky . " Official comments claimed that the radar was still being tested and that it pointed towards Russia was a pure coincidence . The Russian general Leonid Ivashov said in a statement to the Norwegian newspaper , Dagbladet , that Russia had programmed tactical nuclear weapons to attack the radar station . Today , it is believed that Globus II has an important role in the US anti - ballistic missile system . Located near the Russian border it is highly capable of monitoring and building a signature database of Russian missiles . In addition , Vardø is well placed for the radar to collect precision data on the warheads and decoys carried by possible Russian , future Iranian ( and , formerly , Iraqi ) missiles fired toward the United States . These considerations , together with the questionable nature of the advantages of Globus II as a space surveillance sensor , have led to even more controversy , including a series of official complaints by Russia . Administration and funding . The radar is administered by the Norwegian Intelligence Service . It is however believed to be connected to the US radar network . Although the cost of the radar is secret it is believed to have cost more than 100 million US dollars and that it was financed by the United States . The Norwegian intelligence service claims that it is operated by Norwegian personnel only and that data is not transferred real - time . What is to be considered real - time is however disputed as such radar - stations collect too much information for it to be transferred live . Instead , information is typically automatically filtered on location and transferred in batches every 30 – 90 seconds .