Construction of the nation's first Sentinel System ballistic missile defense site, oriented to the Chinese Communist threat, is planned in the Boston area and the U.S. Army is proceeding to acquire the site.
Congressional authorization has been obtained to acquire the land from private owners and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Army Corps of Engineers will construct Sentinel System facilities.
The Boston site is 22 miles north of the city near Sharner's Pond, in North Andover Township, and the facility will accommodate a Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR). Associated with the PAR will be a Missile Site Radar (MSR) launching facility located at Camp Curtis Guild, a Massachusetts National Guard camp near Reading, 14 miles north of Boston.
Each of the facilities will require about 300 acres of land.