Each Long Range site consists of accommodation buildings, radar towers and radomes, generator and fuel systems, satellite terminals, automated weather station, and UHF and VHF ground-air-ground radio.

[1]: 17  Short Range sites consist of a single AN/FPS-124 radar, satellite terminals, power generation and fuel systems, and a small emergency shelter that can accommodate six people.

With the signing of North American Air Defence Modernization agreement at the "Shamrock Summit" between Prime Minister Mulroney and President Reagan in Quebec City on 18 March 1985, the DEW Line began its eventual upgrading and transition becoming the North Warning System (NWS) of today.

The NWS began limited operation in 1988 with the commissioning and acceptance of the three newly constructed east coast sites BAF-3 Brevoort Island, Nunavut, LAB-2 Saglek and LAB-6 Cartwright, both in Labrador.

The bi-national North Warning System Office (NWSO) is located in Ottawa, Ontario and staffed with both Canadian and American military and civilian personnel.

The stations consisted of a module train, a warehouse, a vehicle garage, an Inuit house, POL (Petroleum, Oil, Lubricant) tanks and a continuous wave radar tower.

DEW Line stations in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska were inactivated due to budget reductions in 1969.