The old radars, which have been tracking rockets and objects in space for decades, risked becoming museum exhibits. But the US Space Force decided not to change them, but simply to "reset" them. A large-scale digitization of six outdated ground-based radars across the country is currently underway.
The bottom line is this: instead of building new stations from scratch (which is expensive and time-consuming), we decided to modernize the old ones. The antennas and the basic structure will be left inside, but the "brains" will be completely changed — modern digital stuffing will be installed. This will give several advantages at once: radars will become more accurate, process data faster, see better what is happening both in the sky and in space, and they will break less often.
In addition, such an upgrade will save a lot of money on maintenance — old analog systems have long been "demanding mercy": spare parts are difficult to find, there are few specialists, and breakdowns are frequent. Now everything will be easier and more reliable with digital systems.
All this is for a reason. Threats are changing: supersonic missiles, Chinese spy satellites, Russian anti-satellite systems... America needs to keep its finger on the pulse. And these "updated grandmothers" are supposed to help keep things in order, both in orbit and above the Earth.
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