Eyes on the Sky

“Good afternoon Sir, may we join you?” Our visit does not start at the doors of a secret installation but rather at one of the many restaurants at the top of the Serra de Monchique where tourists admire the view using British superlatives.

We sit down beside Captain Luís Telha, who has been responsible for the radar station at Foia since August 2006. On the menu, the day’s special is roast chicken and we learn that every six months there is a tender to determine who will supply meals to the 20-odd men who make up this small, technical and specialized unit. If they were not in uniform no one would notice them. They are calm, quiet and reserved. The profile necessary to work on a radar station? “It is important that these facilities exist but that nobody notices them,” comments Capt. Telha wryly. He entered the military academy in 1992 and took a technical degree in electronic engineering, computers and telecommunications. For a few years he was involved in aeronautical installation projects, installing ILS (Instrument Landing System) systems. He is therefore at home in this environment. “It is important for the person in charge to have extensive experience so as to be able to solve problems and fully understand what the technicians are saying,” he says.

So what do you do here? The response is less than enthusiastic. The team’s priority is to ensure that the radar is kept functioning and maintained. There are no war control rooms or anything that one sees in the movies and associates with these types of installations. In fact, there is a control panel but it is purely for maintenance purposes and is only switched on at these times.

“In the 1950s, FAP´s responsibility was, besides aviation, to control air space.” In fact the appropriation of the land at Foia for military use dates back to Salazar’s time. “Later, in the 70s, in the ambit of NATO, a project known as Portuguese Air Command and Control System (POACCS) was initiated. Radars were built in Paços de Ferreira and Montejunto,” Telha explains.

“This one was set up in 1991. It was the first of ten to be installed in the southern NATO countries.” he remembers. Since then, it has had various upgrades but this by no way means that they have an easy life. “It is quite a complex system that involves main radar and several secondary ones. Most problems are solved on site but sometimes it is necessary to involve the North American manufacturer. Even so, we have the highest operating record in NATO,” he adds. One exception was in 2003 when forest fires destroyed a large part of Monchique. This was an emergency situation and the radar had to be turned off because of the smoke and heat.

Local imagination has fuelled several myths about this facility – from it hiding missiles to there being a subterranean complex concealed beneath it “We had to host an open day to put an end to these stories. Nevertheless, because some doors had to remain closed for both operational and security reasons, certain people remain sceptical.” he tells.

Our curiosity was also heightened the moment we entered the building. What is really going on here? Due to NATO regulations we were not authorised to photograph the interior. In fact there is little of any interest - a sterile, white corridor leads to a series of small offices. Compact and functional. The biggest area is a store for a few components. There is a small bar for staff. Other rooms house the diesel generators and the batteries; there is a workshop under the antennae and little else. The components of the radar are outside in container-like “shelters”. When fully operational, the radar consumes an average of E500 of electricity per day, most of which is used to power the machines that cool the electronic components. A door with high security locks protects the radios, transmitters, an arsenal of automatic rifles and the classified files. When asked about the radiation emitted, Luis Telha pointed to a warning light; “When that light is on, it is not possible to climb up to the dome.” The exterior of the complex complies with current laws and regulations.

Watching air space

Positioned at the crossroads between the Atlantic, Europe and Africa, Portugal is an important international transition space – a door to many frontiers. It is the responsibility of the Portuguese Air Force (FAP) to detect and identify all aircraft that enter or violate Portuguese sovereign air space. This is called aerial policing.

“Our responsibility is to make sure that Portuguese air space is not violated,” explains Lieutenant-Colonel Telmo Reis, commander of the Air Defence Control and Report Centre in Monsanto, Lisbon. Our first level of intervention is to monitor and support civil Air Traffic Control (ATC) – the service that co-ordinates the flow of traffic in our skies.

Over and above this, FAP has its own means. National air space is controlled by the radar stations of Foia (ER1), Paços de Ferreira (ER2) and Montejunto (ER3). This combination forms the Portuguese Air Command and Control System that has been in full operation for the last six years.

Shortly this system will be extended to the islands. In the Azores and Madeira it will be able to support search and rescue missions in the ocean and eventually other operations that require aerial control such as monitoring fishing waters, oil spills and drug trafficking.

In fact this is an issue that is of serious concern to the military, particularly in the south of the country. Telmo Reis remembers a famous case that took place on the night of 30th January 2005 at the Aerodrome in Beja when a “Piper Cherokee Six” heading for Morocco landed on a strip usually used for agricultural purposes. It was a clandestine flight transporting narcotics. However, things did not go well for the traffickers. On their return, the PJ, Judiciary Police, caught them red-handed with 277 kg of hashish and several arms on board. “What they did not know was that they were being trailed by a fighter plane from the FAP,” reveals Lt.Cnl. Telmo Reis, perhaps the best informed on everything that happens in Portuguese air space.

The control centre in Monsanto, receives real-time information on all of POACCS’s radar stations. Twenty-four hours a day, a team of 16 military personnel monitors data that is transmitted fibre-optically and via microwaves and can be superimposed. It also has the capacity to share information with other European radar stations (e.g. Spanish and French ones) as well as with NATO’s Boeing E.3 airplanes.

The Portuguese Air force has F-16 “Falcon” Fighters ready to go into action in case of a threat. All these means are necessary for Portugal to honour its international commitments and to respond to new and growing challenges related to security and defence in an increasingly complex and changing world.