| AN/CPS-6 | |
| Manufacturer: | General Electric |
| Introdate: | 1945 |
| Type: | Medium-range search/height finder |
| Frequency: | S-band (2.73.01 GHz) |
| Pulsewidth: | 0.5 µseconds |
| Range: | 165miles |
| Altitude: | 45000feet |
| Power: | 40 kw |
| Other Names: | Minnie |
| Related: | AN/CPS-6, 6A, 6B, AN/FPS-10 |
The AN/CPS-6 was an S-band medium-range search/height finder radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. The radar was developed during the later stages of World War II by the MIT Radiation Laboratory with the first units produced by General Electric in mid-1945.
Subsequent development of the AN/CPS-6A and AN/CPS-6B models saw them produced at a plant in Syracuse, New York. The radar set consisted of two antennae, with one slanted at a 45-degree angle providing the height-finder capability. Designed to detect fighter aircraft at a range of 100miles and a height of up to 16000feet, the radar utilized five transmitters operating at S-band frequencies ranging between 2.7{{en dash}}. It required twenty-five people to operate the radar.
In 1949, an AN/CPS-6 radar was installed as part of the Lashup Radar Network at Twin Lights, New Jersey, proving capable of detecting targets at ranges of 84miles. The first units of the follow-on AN/CPS-6B, ready for installation by mid-1950, saw fourteen of these assigned within the first permanent Lashup network.
A component designed to improve the radar's range was added in 1954. Tests showed the 6B-model had a range of 165miles with an altitude limit of 45000feet. A single radar unit with its ancillary electronic equipment required eighty-five freight cars for transport. The Air Force phased out the 6B-model between mid-1957 and mid-1959.
Another radar, developed from the CPS-6, was the AN/FPS-10. It was essentially a stripped-down version of the AN/CPS-6B. Thirteen of these units served within the first permanent Lashup network.
The Joint Electronics Type Designation System (JETDS) required all U.S. military electronic systems to be assigned a unique identifying alphanumeric designation. In its simplest form, the nomenclature consists of the letters “AN” (for Army-Navy) placed ahead of a three-letter code followed by a hyphen and a 1 to 3 digit number.
Thus, the AN/FPS-10 designation represents the 10th design of an Army-Navy “Fixed, Radar, Search” electronic device.