What Alaskan island chain extends for over 1,000 miles?
First island chain First island chain The first island chain refers to the first chain of major archipelagos out from the East Asian continental mainland coast. Principally composed of the Kuril Islands, Japanese Archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan (Formosa), the northern Philippines, and Borneo; from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the Malay Peninsula. Some definitions of the "first island chain" anchor the northern end on the Russian Far East coast north of Sahkalin Island, with Sahkalin Island being the first link in the chain. However, others consider the Aleutians as the farthest north-eastern first link in the chain. The first island chain forms one of
Alaskan Air Command aircraft tracks. The AN/FYQ-9 also provided increased data processing speed for air defense data sent from the Alaskan radar sites to Elmendorf AFB. From 1946 to 1961, the Air force engaged in observations of polar ice pack phenomena which resulted in the support of three major manned ice stations. In August 1946, a SAC WB-29 flying over the Arctic noticed what appeared to be an island where no known land existed. Subsequent investigations determined that it was a floating mass of ice which closely resembled an island. It became known as "Target X", later designated "T-1". T-1 was monitored for