Cape Cod Pave Paws Antenna, Massachusetts

Built on the highest elevation on Cape Cod, at the northern edge of Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC), this ten-story antenna, dubbed the pyramid, scans the Atlantic Ocean and the skies over Europe, as part of the nation's missile, satellite, and aircraft tracking system. It was built for the Air Force in 1978 by the Raytheon Corporation. The sloped flat plate antenna is composed of thousands of individual elements, whose beam direction is determined by varying the phase of their pulses. It is this time-shifting which allows the individual antenna elements to remain stationary, unlike more conventional radar designs. This antenna is coupled with others, including one located at Beale Air Force Base in California, which scans the Pacific Ocean and the Orient. Early warning data is forwarded to places like the U.S. Missile Warning and Space Control Centers, the U.S. National Military Command Center, and U.S. Strategic Command, while satellite tracking data is dispatched to the Joint Space Operations Center. PAVE PAWS is an acronym for Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry Phased Array Warning System.