Suffolk BOMARC Base

Suffolk BOMARC Base: 1957, Suffolk County, Westhampton Beach. Site of 1st BOMARC Missle Interceptor Station. The BOMARC A was a Surface-to-Air Cruise Missile with a length of 45 feet, 3 inches and a wingspan of 18 feet, 2 inches. It's range was 230 miles. Following initial research and development activities after World War II, the pilotless interceptor aircraft or Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) was envisioned as an instant readiness supersonic cruise aircraft with a range of several hundred miles. The SAM concept was created primarily to protect the U.S. mainland from enemy aircraft. By 1949, the first SAM designs were presented to the U.S. Air Force for consideration. These included plans for the Bomarc. The first production vehicle became known as Bomarc A, while a more advanced version became known as the Bomarc B. see Niagara Falls BOMARC Base. Bomarc was the first weapons system to employ an active homing system. Interceptions were controlled by a Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system from Stewart AFB, see SAGE designed to alert and control the SAM toward its target. A Bomarc missile prototype was first test-flown on September 10, 1952. The operational version was ready for its first test flight by February, 1955. Boeing began delivering operational Bomarc missiles to the U.S. Air Force in 1957, with a total of 366 deployed by 1960 at bases which could house one or two 28-missile squadrons. Initially two 28 Missle Squadrons of Bomarc A deployment occurred at Suffolk Air Force Base, New York. Deactivated 1969.

See BOMARC for more information.

Back to Forts Q - S Index