Welcome
An Introduction to the Underground Complex
Russian TU-95 Bear being escorted by a CF-18. CFMAD Collection
By the late 1950s, the Cold War was well underway. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), joining Canada, the United States and much of Europe in a mutual defence agreement, was organized in 1949 and the Warsaw Pact was formed in 1953 between Soviet nations for much the same purpose. Tensions between the two groups were mounting, especially between the USSR (Russia) and the United States.
Canada, in alliance with the United States, now found itself geographically in between these two superpowers at a time when the threat of nuclear war was a genuine fear. The new possibility of a Russian plane flying into the Arctic airspace made Canada especially vulnerable and important.
The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was formed officially on May 12, 1958, as a way to create a joint Canadian-American response to the threat of Russian aircraft flying into North American airspace. It was only shortly after this that the search began to find a suitable location for building a subterranean operations complex, capable of withstanding a nuclear blast and continuing its air defence operations. North Bay was selected as the location for an operations centre for a large part of Canadian airspace.
After only four years of construction, this Underground Complex (UGC) was declared operational on October 1, 1963, and operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 43 years non-stop. This major construction project, technological advancement and critical defence establishment is celebrated in this virtual exhibit.
NORAD badge with "Aerospace" instead of "Air" - the change was made in 1981.
There are five categories above, chronicling the different eras of the UGC’s history. We invite you to explore the story more deeply than has ever been shown before and to send in any memories that you may have of the facility. This exhibit will be updated regularly with new photos, information or stories as they become available to us. (NOTE: UGC50 is no longer updated as of 25 September 2015. Thank you for your participation!)
Enjoy your visit!
The Canadian Forces Museum of Aerospace Defence would like to thank many people for their assistance in putting this virtual exhibit together, especially 22 Wing Imagery, Cpl Devin Orcutt, Collections Assistant and Capt Dodds-Lepinski, Wing Public Affairs.
Most of these photos are courtesy DND Photo.
Blast door from tunnel into main building installation. DND Photo NBC72-1301