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l, INTRODUCTION PAVE PAWS is the name the U.S. Air Force uses to designate an advanced fixed-base, phased-array radar system located at the Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. PAVE is the code word for the Air Force unit in charge of the project, and PAWS stands for Phased Array Warning System. The primary purpose of the facility is to detect and track ballistic missiles launched from ships and submarines as far as 3,000 nautical miles from U.S. shores. As a secondary function, PAVE PAWS is designed to provide surveillance of earth satellites and to identify and track other objects in space for the Air Force Spacetrack System. The PAVE PAWS radar system is scheduled to go into operation in April l979. An identical system at Beale Air Force Base on the California coast is to go into operation a year later. As part of the nation's early warning network to detect the flight of ballistic missiles, these radar systems scan close to the horizon across the sector of potential approach. They possess the power and sensitivity to locate a booster rocket as it appears above the horizon after launching and to track the trajectory of its payloads upon separa- tion from the booster. This information is transmitted to the North American Air Defense, the Strategic Air Command, the National Military Command Center, and the Alternate National Military Command Center. While both radar systems are alike in design, the details of their sitings are different. This report concerns only the PAVE PAWS system as it was designed, built, and tested for its site at the Otis Air Force Base (Figure l). The PAVE PAWS radar project was initiated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in November l972. Its prime contractor, Raytheon Company, was named in April l976. The project management for the Air Force Systems Command is the Electronic Systems Division (ESD), Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Massachusetts. In March l976, the Air Force issued an environmental assessment, first prepared in August l975 and subsequently revised, for the PAVE PAWS radar. For this assessment a power density or incident intensity of l0 milliwatts/cm2 for 6 minutes was set as a guideline for the occu- pational exposure limit. This guideline is used by the U.S. Occupa- tional Safety and Health Administration as the acceptable occupational exposure standard. In May l976, the Illinois Institute of Technology
Figure l PAVE PAWS Radar Courtesy of the United States Air Force
(IIT) Research Institute issued its report at the request of the Depart- ment of Defense's Electromagnetic Compatibility Analysis Center to determine the impact of the proposed radar system on the electromagnetic environment at and near Otis Air Force Base. The IIT Research Institute report was updated in July l978. Meantime, in December l977, the Environmental Protection Agency released its Environmental Impact Analysis (Reference l). Three months later, in March 1978, the Cape Cod Environmental Coalition, Inc., a citizens group, filed suit against several Air Force officials, alleging that the Air Force had violated the National Environmental Policy Act of l969 by failing to submit an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the PAVE PAWS project. In April l978, the Air Force announced that it had engaged SRI International to prepare the EIS for PAVE PAWS. To allay concerns by citizens about the possible adverse effects of radiation from the proposed PAVE PAWS installation on human health, Air Force survey teams measured the microwave levels at various speci- fied locations on the cape during May, August, and October l978. Then, in November l978, the federal court action was suspended and the Air Force was allowed to continue its construction of the radar facility, while the Cape Cod Environmental Coalition was given the opportunity to participate in further environmental studies of the impact of PAVE PAWS radiation on the surrounding community. When the Air Force files its final EIS with the Environmental Protection Agency, the citizens' coali- tion will have 2l days to amend its legal complaint. Failing that, the court action will be dismissed.
