Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line stations were built in the 1950s to provide the first alert of an "over the pole" invasion from the former Soviet Union.
Most of those are closed or were abandoned decades ago. But 17 military radar stations in Alaska remain in use. The Air Force operates stations between King Salmon and Fort Yukon, part of an early-detection air defense system that extends to the far side of the northern Canadian coast.
Within the last six months, two radar stations - Bullen Point and Wainwright - were closed by military order after they were deemed no longer necessary. Their radar components will be provided to the Canadians, according to Col. Brent Johnson, commander of the 611th Air Support Group at Elmendorf Air Force Base.
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