Cape Newenham AFS was a continental defence radar station constructed to provide the United States Air Force early warning of an attack by the Soviet Union on Alaska.

Cape Newenham was initially maintained by Detachment F-5, 531st Aircraft Control and Warning Group (AC&W Gp).

The tramway cables were constantly breaking because of high winds and ice, and fog and the extreme cold made repairs hazardous.

A runway was built in 1952 58°38′54″N 162°03′50″W / 58.64833°N 162.06389°W / 58.64833; -162.06389 (Cape Newenham LRRS Airport),1.6 miles (2.6 km) north-northeast to facilitate the transportation of personnel and critical cargo.

It was inactivated in March 1979, and replaced by an Alascom owned and operated satellite earth terminal as part of an Air Force plan to divest itself of the obsolete White Alice Communications System and transfer the responsibility to a commercial firm.

On 1 October 1977, AAC, after a trial period, implemented a site support contract with RCA Services as part of an Air Force-wide effort to reduce remote tours.

Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars.

In 1983, Cape Newenham received a new AN/FPS-117 minimally attended radar under Alaskan Air Command's SEEK IGLOO program.

It was designed to transmit aircraft tracking data via satellite to the Alaskan NORAD Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC) at Elmendorf AFB.

No longer needed, the 794th AC&W Sq was inactivated on 1 November 1983 and the station redesignated as a Long Range Radar (LRR) Site.

In 1990, jurisdiction of the Cape Newenham LRR Site was transferred to Eleventh Air Force with the re-designation of AAC.

In 1998 Pacific Air Forces initiated "Operation Clean Sweep", in which abandoned Cold War stations in Alaska were remediated and the land restored to its previous state.