Alaska’s HAARP Site Now Being Used To Test New Air Force Over-The-Horizon Radar Tech

The US Air Force and MITRE used Alaska's High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program facility during September 2026 experiments into an ionospheric, beyond-line-of-sight aircraft-detection technique. Transmissions from the HAARP site were assessed alongside a 16-element receiving array at Cold Bay, with flights by military aircraft including the E-3, KC-135 and HC-130J supplying known targets for comparison. The approach exploits high-frequency radio propagation through the ionosphere to examine whether aircraft can be detected at distances beyond the horizon of conventional ground radars. Early observations support further research, but HAARP has not been converted into an operational Air Force air-surveillance installation.