Eyes on the Sky: The Control Site That Guided the Missiles
The missiles may have been here—but the “brains” of the operation were just across the valley.
This launch site, Pi-71-L, worked in tandem with a nearby control site: Pi-71-C.
That control site housed three critical radar systems:
- Long-range radar to detect incoming threats
- Target-tracking radar to lock onto aircraft
- Missile-tracking radar to guide the interceptor
Using this data, computer systems calculated an intercept point—guiding the missile to where the target would be, not where it was.
This site was part of a much larger defense network.
Across northern Canada, the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line provided advance notice of incoming bombers—sometimes up to an hour before arrival.
Fighter jets would respond first. If they failed, systems like Nike were the final safeguard. The last line of defense.
