Port Austin Air Force Station Port Austin Air Force Station ( ADC ID : P - 61 , NORAD ID : Z - 61 ) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station . It is located south - southwest Port Austin , Michigan . It was closed in 1988 by the Air Force . After the station ' s closure , it was replaced by the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) at Canton , Michigan ( near Detroit ) as part of the Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) , designated by NORAD as Eastern Air Defense Sector ( EADS ) Ground Equipment Facility J - 62 . History . Port Austin Air Force Station was one of twenty - eight stations built as part of the second segment of the Air Defense Command permanent radar network . Prompted by the start of the Korean War , on July 11 , 1950 , the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of the permanent network . Receiving the Defense Secretary ’ s approval on July 21 , the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction . The 754th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was initially activated on 27 November 1950 at a temporary site at Oscoda AFB , Michigan ( L - 20 ) with an AN / TPS - 1 B radar . It was assigned to Port Austin in July 1951 and began operating an AN / TPS - 1C . The site then joined the " Permanent " radar network , and the squadron began using an AN / FPS - 3 set , and 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 intruders picked up on the unit ' s radar scopes . An AN / CPS - 4 was added in 1954 . This radar was replaced in 1957 by an AN / FPS - 6 height - finder radar . A second AN / FPS - 6 height - finder radar was added a year later . In 1958 this site began operating an AN / FPS - 20 radar , which replaced the AN / FPS - 3 . During 1959 Port Austin AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) system , feeding data to DC - 06 at Custer AFS , Michigan . After joining , the squadron was redesignated as the 754th Radar Squadron ( SAGE ) on 1 September 1959 . 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 early 1962 the site received and operated an AN / FPS - 24 search radar , and the AN / FPS - 20 was retired . On 31 July 1963 , the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z - 61 . In 1964 an AN / FPS - 26 A height - finder radar was installed , and one AN / FPS - 6 was removed later that year . The other AN / FPS - 6 was removed in 1968 . 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 site came under Tactical Air Command control in October 1979 with the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command and the transfer of the site to Air Defense , Tactical Air Command ( ADTAC ) . Circa 1982 , the main bearing of the AN / FPS - 24 search radar failed catastrophically . The FAA long - range radar site at Canton ( Detroit ) , MI , was then used as a temporary data - tie site until an AN / FPS - 91 A search radar could be installed at Port Austin AFS in 1983 . Also , the AN / FPS - 26A was replaced by an AN / FPS - 116 height - finder radar for the JSS Program . The site remained in use as an Air Force site until 30 September 1988 when it was closed altogether , again replaced by the FAA radar site at Canton .