When I arrived at Shemya, I was surprised to learn that birds could fly right in front of a 16 megawatt radar array face and NOT get fried. I asked the Raytheon contractors about this and they said the radar beams didn't come into focus until many miles away from the array face. Too bad. I actually wanted to see the Dane operate in "gull zapper" mode.

Here's a link to some Shemya photos. There's a good picture of the Cobra Dane about halfway down the page. Don't be fooled by the blue skies in the photos. No one in his right mind would've gone out taking pictures during Shemya normally crappy weather, which happened about 90% of the time. In the year I was there, I remember only a handful of days with good weather. If God ever decides to give the Earth an enema, Shemya is where He'll stick the hose. That place is the asshole of the Earth.

http://www.elmendorf.af.mil/Units/Eareckson/gallery.htm