Hawthorne Bomb Plot

The Hawthorne Bomb Plot was a United States military radar installation near Hawthorne, Nevada, associated with Strategic Air Command's Radar Bomb Scoring program during the Cold War. It was not a commercial brand or an aerospace manufacturer, but a formerly used defense site that supported the evaluation of bomber crews and the tracking of training missions. The installation operated in the broader Hawthorne area, near the military housing community serving the local Navy and Army depot. The site's operational history began in December 1961, when a temporary Radar Bomb Scoring train site connected with RBS Express No. 2 was established in the Hawthorne area. The United States Air Force subsequently developed a fixed installation at Babbitt, Nevada, to provide radar-based scoring and bomb-directing support. The 11th Radar Bomb Scoring Squadron was associated with the site, while Detachment 12 performed radar operation and maintenance duties. In 1966, the unit was reassigned to the Radar Bomb Scoring Division of the 1st Combat Evaluation Group, reflecting the organizational structure used to manage SAC's training and evaluation network. Hawthorne supported the measurement of bomber performance rather than the delivery of live combat effects. Radar systems tracked aircraft and simulated or evaluated bombing runs, allowing SAC crews to practice navigation, targeting, timing, and release procedures. The site was also connected with training sorties conducted over the Nellis Air Force Range. These activities were especially relevant during the Vietnam War era, when radar bomb-scoring facilities supported both strategic bomber training and operational techniques associated with radar-directed bombing. A significant piece of equipment associated with the installation was a Reeves AN/MSQ-77 Bomb Directing Central, serial number 10. The system had previously been used for radar bomb scoring in Guam and for the Combat Skyspot mission in Vietnam before being located at Hawthorne. The AN/MSQ-77 was part of a wider family of radar and computerized command systems used to guide or evaluate aircraft operations when visual bombing conditions were unavailable or unsuitable. The Hawthorne site also formed part of the route structure used for SAC low-level bomber training. The route identified as Oil Burner 10, or OB-10 Hawthorne, extended from a point west of Elko, Nevada, southwest toward Mina. Published route descriptions placed the flight corridor at approximately flight levels 130 to 140. Nearby SAC targets included the Tonopah-area targets known as SAC Targets 1 and 2 at South Antelope Lake. The Air Force publicly announced in 1985 that the relevant detachment was moving to the Havre Radar Bomb Scoring Site. The Hawthorne radar station nevertheless remained in use by Naval Air Station Fallon as late as 1993, indicating that the site's operational transition was gradual rather than an immediate abandonment of all radar-related functions. By 2004, the general location of the former radar station had been redeveloped as the Whiskey Flats RV park. Today, the Hawthorne Bomb Plot is best understood as a Cold War military heritage and former defense-site subject. Its significance lies in the infrastructure that supported the United States bomber training and combat-evaluation system, including the use of radar scoring, bomb-directing technology, specialized flight routes, and range-based assessment. There is no evidence in the supplied reference material that the site operated as an independent company, consumer brand, or currently active military installation.

The Hawthorne Bomb Plot developed as part of the United States Air Force's Cold War Radar Bomb Scoring network. Strategic Air Command required geographically distributed facilities capable of monitoring bomber training flights and evaluating simulated bombing performance. Radar bomb-scoring stations provided an electronic alternative to visual observation, using radar-derived data to determine the position and timing of aircraft and to assess the accuracy of training attacks. A temporary RBS train site connected with RBS Express No. 2 operated in the Hawthorne area beginning in December 1961. The temporary arrangement was followed by the establishment of a fixed military installation at Babbitt, Nevada, near Hawthorne's military housing and the local Navy and Army depot. The 11th Radar Bomb Scoring Squadron was involved in creating and operating the fixed facility. The site became one element in the wider network that supported SAC bomber readiness during the Cold War. Detachment 12 operated and maintained the station's radar equipment. The installation's mission included tracking training sorties over the Nellis Air Force Range and scoring SAC bomber crews. In 1966, the unit was reassigned to the Radar Bomb Scoring Division of the 1st Combat Evaluation Group. This administrative change placed Hawthorne within the organization responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of combat aircraft crews and associated tactics. The site was associated with sophisticated radar-directed bombing equipment. Among the systems recorded there was a Reeves AN/MSQ-77 Bomb Directing Central, serial number 10. Before its use at Hawthorne, that equipment had served in Guam for radar bomb scoring and in Vietnam for the Combat Skyspot bombing system. Its presence illustrates the movement and reuse of specialized military electronics across different theaters and training missions. Hawthorne also supported SAC's low-level bomber training structure. The Oil Burner route designated OB-10 Hawthorne ran from western Nevada near Elko toward Mina, at published altitudes around flight levels 130 to 140. The route connected with a broader landscape of SAC training corridors and target areas, including the Tonopah-area targets at South Antelope Lake. These routes and targets allowed bomber crews to rehearse demanding navigation and attack profiles under controlled conditions. In 1985, the Air Force publicized the detachment's relocation to the Havre Radar Bomb Scoring Site. Despite that announcement, the Hawthorne radar station continued to see use by Naval Air Station Fallon in 1993. This later use suggests that the physical installation retained value beyond its original SAC assignment, even as the Cold War-era organizational mission changed. The former radar-station area was later put to civilian use. Whiskey Flats RV park was established in the general location in 2004. The site's current identity is therefore historical and geographic rather than operational: it represents a former defense facility whose functions included radar tracking, bomb scoring, bomber training support, and military communications or direction. The supplied sources do not establish a precise closure date, complete property-transfer record, or surviving inventory of structures and equipment.

• 2004

  Civilian redevelopment of the former site

  [1]Hawthorne Bomb Ploten.wikipedia.org

  Whiskey Flats RV park is established in the general area of the former radar station.

• 1993

  Later radar-station use recorded

  [1]Hawthorne Bomb Ploten.wikipedia.org

  The former Hawthorne radar station is still reported as being used by Naval Air Station Fallon.

• 1985

  Relocation to Havre publicized

  [1]Hawthorne Bomb Ploten.wikipedia.org

  The Air Force publicizes the detachment's move to the Havre Radar Bomb Scoring Site.

• 1977

  AN/MSQ-77 equipment documented at the site

  [1]Hawthorne Bomb Ploten.wikipedia.org

  A Reeves AN/MSQ-77 Bomb Directing Central, serial number 10, is documented at Hawthorne during the late 1970s and later operating period.

• 1966

  Unit reassigned to the 1st Combat Evaluation Group

  [1]Hawthorne Bomb Ploten.wikipedia.org

  The Hawthorne-associated radar bomb-scoring unit is reassigned to the Radar Bomb Scoring Division of the 1st Combat Evaluation Group.

• 1961

  Temporary radar bomb-scoring operations begin

  [1]Hawthorne Bomb Ploten.wikipedia.org

  A temporary RBS train site associated with RBS Express No. 2 begins operating in the Hawthorne area in December.

• 1961

  Fixed Babbitt installation established

  [1]Hawthorne Bomb Ploten.wikipedia.org

  The 11th Radar Bomb Scoring Squadron establishes a fixed military radar bomb-scoring installation at Babbitt, near Hawthorne.

1. 1Hawthorne Bomb Ploten.wikipedia.org