A series of high frequency antennas seen in Cold Bay, Alaska, in September 2026, erected to help capture signals from the High Altitude Auroral Research Program (HAARP) transmitter in Fairbanks. The Department of Defense has experimented with using HAARP to detect incoming aircraft, reportedly with success. (US Air Force)

The Pentagon May Have Made a Radar Breakthrough in Alaska

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The Department of Defense is seeking to supplement its long-range radars to provide better coverage of Alaska’s vast airspace. After three years of trying, it may have found a way.

US military researchers and international partners completed a series of Arctic air surveillance experiments in Alaska last month. The final live-flight testing took place in September—concluding a three-year research effort where researchers tested whether an existing high-frequency transmitter, combined with an inexpensive receiver array, could detect aircraft beyond the coverage of conventional long-range radar.

The results appear to have been at least initially successful, demonstrating successful beyond-visual-line-of-sight aircraft detections. If refined and implemented, this technology could eventually help close surveillance gaps........

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