[12.0] Equipment Quick Reference & Index
v2.1.1 / chapter 12 of 12 / 01 aug 24 / greg goebel
* This chapter provides a very quick summary list of the equipment mentioned
in the text, with hyperlinks to the sections of the main text providing more
detailed descriptions. Cross references to related items in the list are
marked in italics.
Naming systems for World War II electronic gear are a little confusing. The
British RAF and Army began with somewhat informal names, such as "AI" for
airborne intercept radars, "GL" for gun laying radars, and so on. The Royal
Navy had their own type numbers.
The US Army had the "Signal Corps Radio (SCR) designation, while the US Navy
generally had two designations, one a letter code such as "FH" and the other
a mark designation, such as "Mark 8". The letter code came out of the Navy
Bureau of Ships, while the mark designation came out of the Navy Bureau of
Ordnance. The whole matter was so confusing that in 1943 the services
adopted the universal "Army-Navy (AN)" designation system, for example
"AN/APS-4". The "Army-Navy" suffix does not necessarily mean that the gear
was used by both services; it just means they used the Army-Navy designation
system.
As several different militaries used type and mark numbers that are easy to
confuse, this chapter gives such designations prefixed with an organization
code, such as "RN" for "British Royal Navy", "IJA" for "Imperial Japanese
Army", and "IJN" for "Imperial Japanese Navy".
[12.1] BRITISH / COMMONWEALTH RADARS
[12.2] OTHER BRITISH / COMMONWEALTH EQUIPMENT
[12.3] US RADARS
[12.4] OTHER US EQUIPMENT
[12.5] GERMAN RADARS
[12.6] OTHER GERMAN EQUIPMENT
[12.7] JAPANESE RADARS
[12.8] COMMENTS, SOURCES, & REVISION HISTORY
* British / Commonwealth radars included:
- Airborne Intercept (AI) Mark I through Mark IV:
Early and inadequate British AI radars, operating at 1.5 meters (200 MHz),
with lobe-switching. Only the Mark IV was particularly satisfactory.
- Airborne Intercept (AI) Mark VII: British
10 centimeter (3 GHz) AI, derived from prototype "AIS" set. Used conical
scanning based on a rotating dish. It was followed by "AI Mark VIII",
with fixes and an IFF system.
- Airborne Intercept (AI) Mark IX: British advanced
10 centimeter (3 GHz) AI, intended to be competitive with the US
SCR-720 series, but did not see service until after the war and proved
a disappointment.
- Airborne Intercept (AI) Mark X: Designation for
the US SCR-720 in British service.
- Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) Mark I & Mark II:
Initial "Air to Surface Vessel" longwave radar, operating at 1.5 meters
(200 MHz), with lobe switching. ASV.I wasn't very reliable or capable,
but ASV.II, which added a side-looking search mode, was a great
improvement and used by both Britain and the US.
- Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) Mark III: British
10 centimeter (3 GHz) ASV radar, based on the H2S bomber targeting
radar. Did not reach full production.
- AMES Type 13: British 10 centimeter (3 GHz)
height-finding set, derived from RN Type 277, featuring twin
vertically oriented cheese-type antennas and "nodding" operation.
- Chain Home (CH): British floodlight radar,
operating around 10 meters (30 MHz), the backbone of British air defense
early in the war. Overseas installations were known as "Chain Overseas
(CO)". The radar network in its entirety was known as "Home Chain".
- Chain Home Low (CHL): British air warning radar,
functionally the same as the 1.5 meter (200 MHz) CD Mark I. Overseas
installations were designated "Chain Overseas Low (COL)".
- Coastal Defense (CD) Mark I: British 1.5 meter
(200 MHz) coastal defense radar, based on early British AI work, with lobe
switching. Used for air warning as CHL and COL.
- Coastal Defense (CD) Mark IV: British
10 centimeter (3 GHz) coastal defense set, derived from the Type 271
shipboard set, but with larger antennas. Also known as "Type 271 CD" and
"Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL)".
- Filter Room: British fighter-control centers,
using the Chain Home network.
- Ground Controlled Intercept (GCI) / AMES Type 7:
Initial British fighter controller radar operating in the 1.5 meter (200
MHz) band and using a PPI display, derived from CD Mark I.
- Ground Controlled Intercept (GCI) / AMES Type 11:
Improved follow-on to GCI / AMES Type 7 fighter controller radar,
operating in the 50 centimeter (600 MHz) band.
- Gun Laying (GL) Mark I/II: British Army longwave
gun-laying radar, operating from 5.5 to 3.5 meters (54.6 to 85.7 MHz),
capable of providing ranging but only coarse targeting. Copied by the
Soviets as the SON-2.
- Gun Laying (GL) Mark 3A: British designation for
US SCR-584 10 centimeter (3 GHz) anti-aircraft radar.
- Gun Laying (GL) Mark 3B: British-built
10 centimeter (3 GHz) gun-laying radar, with separate transmit and receive
antennas.
- Gun Laying (GL) Mark 3C: Canadian-built 10
centimeter (3 GHz) gun-laying radar, with separate transmit and receive
antennas, no automatic tracking. Saw little use.
- H2S: British 10 centimeter (3 GHz) bomber
targeting radar, derived from centimetric "AIS" AI radar prototype.
- LW: 1.5 meter (200 MHz) British Army portable air
warning radar. LW was not highly capable, but it was easy to move around
and very useful. The Australians designed a derivative as the "LW/AW".
- Mobile Radar Unit (MRU): British mobile radar,
essentially a transportable Chain Home with arrays strung on masts,
operating at 7 meters (42.9 MHz).
- Modified Air Warning Device (MAWD): Australian
adaptations of the US SCR-268 longwave gun-laying radar to the air
warning role.
- Monica: British tail-warning radar.
- RN Type 79/279: British Royal Navy 7.5 meter (40
MHz) shipboard air-warning radar, featuring twin antennas on separate
masts, rotating in synchronization.
- RN Type 284: British Royal Navy 50 centimeter (600
MHz) shipboard gunnery radar, with Yagi antennas and horizontal
lobe-switching.
- RN Type 285: British Royal Navy 50 centimeter (600
MHz) shipboard anti-aircraft radar, similar to RN Type 284.
- RN Type 286: British Royal Navy 1.5 meter (200
MHz) shipboard radar, derived from early AI work. The early Type 286M had
a fixed antenna, while the improved Type 286P had a steerable antenna.
- RN Type 271: Early British Royal Navy shipboard
10 centimeter (3 GHz) set, with separate transmit and receive cheese-type
antennas stacked on top of each other. Manual direction, no PPI.
- RN Type 273: Improved derivative of RN Type
271 set for major warships, operating at 10 centimeters (3 GHz), with
90 centimeter (1 yard) transmit and receive antennas and a gyrostabilized
mounting. Manual direction, no PPI.
- RN Type 277: Improved version of RN Type 273,
operating at 10 centimeters (3 GHz). Initial versions used dual
cheese-type antennas.
BACK_TO_TOP
* Other British / Commonwealth equipment included:
- Abdullah: British radar homing system, carried on
Hawker Typhoons, saw little use.
- Angel: Codename for a radar corner reflector.
- Airborne Cigar: British aircraft-based
radio-channel jammer.
- Airborne Grocer: British airborne broadband noise
jammer, operating on German Lichtenstein AI frequencies. A
ground-based version, "Ground Grocer", proved ineffective.
- Boozer: British radar warning receiver, used on
bombers. Little used in practice, since it tended to produce too many
false alarms.
- Carpet: Allied noise jammer, operating on
Wuerzburg frequencies, with different versions built by Britain and the
US, US versions including the AN/APT-2 (airborne) and AN/SPT-2
(shipboard). Followed by the improved British "Carpet II", with frequency
agility to prevent "home on jam", as well as improved US derivatives
including "Dina", "Rug", and "Broadloom".
- Chaff: Aluminum strips dropped from aircraft to
jam radar, including Window to jam Wuerzburg and Rope to jam
Freya.
- Corona: British ground-based radio-channel
deception network, used to disrupt the German air-defense communications
system.
- Decca Navigator: British longwave hyperbolic
navigation system, also known as "QM" or just "Decca", operating at
kilometer wavelengths. Little used during the war, but persisted in
operation for decades afterwards.
- Gee: British hyperbolic navigation system, using
stations with three separated transmitters, with one "master" and two
"slaves", operating in the band from 15 to 3.5 meters (20 to 85 MHz). The
name was short for "Grid". Gee was the conceptual ancestor of LORAN.
- Gee-H: British navigation system, conceptually
similar to Oboe but with radio interrogators in aircraft and radio
transponders at the base stations, not the other way around. Based on
Gee gear and operated around 15 to 3.5 meters (20 to 85 MHz).
- Ground Cigar: British ground-based radio-channel
jammer.
- High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF):
"Huff-Duff", as it was known, was carried on Allied escort vessels to
locate and help hunt down German submarines.
- IFF Mark I/II: First true IFF units. IFF Mark I
was triggered by Chain Home pulses, while IFF Mark II could respond to
COL and GL signals as well.
- IFF Mark III: Definitive Allied IFF with its own
interrogation band.
- Lucero: British "home-on-jam" device to zero in on
German Kettenhund jammer transmissions.
- Mandrel: Allied broadband noise jammer, operating
on Freya frequencies. Different versions were built by Britain and the
US, US versions including the AN/APT-3 (airborne) and AN/SPT-3
(shipboard).
- Moonshine: British pulse-repeater deception
jammer, operating on Freya frequencies.
- Oboe: British remote targeting system, using two
radar stations designated "Cat" and "Mouse", and a radio beacon in the
bomber being guided. The Cat radar tracked the bomber at a constant
radius, transmitting a tone that changed in frequency if the bomber
drifted off the radius, which is why the system was known as "Oboe". The
Mouse radar determined when the bomber was over the target and sent a
release signal.
Mark I Oboe operated in the 1.5 meter (200 MHz) range, while Mark III Oboe
operated in the 10 centimeter (3 GHz) range.
- Ping Pong: British ground-based radar location
network.
- Pip Squeak: Early British attempt at IFF, involved
ground tracking of a fighter through its radio. Clumsy and quickly
abandoned.
- Rebecca / Eureka: Allied radar beacon system,
operating on 1.5 meters (200 MHz) with Rebecca as interrogator and Eureka
as beacon.
- Rope: Chaff cut to 1.7 meters (5 feet 6 inches)
to jam German Freya search radars.
- Serrate: British radar homing device, used by
British night fighters to home on German night fighters through their
Lichtenstein AI emissions.
- Shiver: British broadband noise jammer, operating
on Wuerzburg frequencies.
- Tinsel: Early British fighter-control radio
channel noise jammer, used microphones in a bomber's engine nacelles to
produce audio noise.
- Window: Chaff cut to 30 centimeters (1 foot)
to jam German Wuerzburg targeting radars.
BACK_TO_TOP
* US radars included:
- AN/APG-15: 12 centimeter (2.5 GHz) tail turret
fire-control radar with conical scanning and automatic tracking, used on
B-29 Superfortress bomber.
- AN/APN-1: Low-altitude radar altimeter.
- AN/APS-6: Improved follow-on to the US Navy ASH
or AN/APS-4 with a simple "gunsight" type display to allow it to be used
in single-seat fighters.
- AN/APS-10 Little Abner: Ground-based version of
the USN Mark 22 nodding height-finder radar.
- AN/APS-13: Tail-warning radar for fighters.
- AN/APS-16 & AN/APS-17: Tail-warning radar for
bombers.
- AN/APS-20: US Navy 10 centimeter (3 GHz) airborne
early warning radar developed under Project Cadillac, carried under TBM-3W
Avengers for fleet protection.
- AN/TPS-1: Lightweight US tactical air-warning
radar, operating at 24 centimeters (1.25 GHz).
- ASB: US Navy ASV radar, a lightweight longwave 58
centimeter (515 MHz) set used on various attack aircraft, originally
designated "XAT". It featured Yagi antennas under each wing.
- ASD (AN/APS-3): Also known as "Dog", US Navy ASV
radar, a 3 centimeter (10 GHz) set carried on a single-engine aircraft
such as the Grumman Avenger Torpedo bomber.
- ASE: US Navy radar, a copy of the British ASV Mark
II, used on Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats early in the war.
- ASG (AN/APS-2): Also known as "George", a US Navy
10 centimeter (3 GHz) ASV set with PPI display.
- ASH (AN/APS-4): US Navy 3 centimeter (10 GHz) ASV
radar, also useful for AI work.
- CXAM: Early 1.5 meter (200 MHz) US Navy shipboard
warning radar, derived from NRL prototype "XAF" radar and built by RCA, in
preference to the company's "CSZ" prototype. Manual direction, no PPI,
maximum range for aircraft about 80 kilometers (50 miles).
- Eagle (AN/APQ-7): US Army 3 centimeter (10 GHz)
bombing radar, using an electronically steered dipole array in the form of
a wing carried under the fuselage of a B-29. Used in bombing raids
against Japan.
- FA: Early US Navy shipboard gunnery radar built by
Bell Labs, operating at 40 centimeters (750 MHz), originally designated
"CXAS".
- FC: US Navy shipboard 10 centimeter (3 GHz)
gunnery radar, also known as "USN Mark 3", with horizontal lobe switching.
- FD: US Navy shipboard 40 centimeter (750 MHz)
anti-aircraft radar, also known as "USN Mark 4", with horizontal and
vertical lobe switching.
- FH: US Navy shipboard 3 centimeter (10 GHz)
surface fire control radar, using a phased-array antenna. Also known as
"USN Mark 8", and was both the first operational Allied phased-array radar
and the first microwave phased-array radar.
- FJ & FL: Short-range shipboard targeting radars,
also known as "Mark 9" and "Mark 10".
- H2X (AN/APS-15): US 3 centimeter (10 GHz) bomber
targeting radar built by Philco, also known as "Bombing Through Overcast
(BTO)" or "Mickey". It was also fitted with a different antenna to be
used as an ASV radar. B-29s carried a variant with a bombing computer,
designated the "AN/APQ-13".
- Low Altitude Bombing (LAB or AN/APQ-5): Radar
bombsight that could be integrated with various radars and used for
low-altitude antiship attack.
- Microwave Early Warning (MEW or AN/CPS-1):
"Microwave Early Warning" 3 centimeter (10 GHz) radar, with back-to-back
rotating curved "billboard" antennas. Used in conjunction with the
AN/APS-10 Little Abner height-finder radar, since MEW was only
accurate in the horizontal plane.
- SA: Small-sized version of the 1.5 meter (200 MHz)
SK surface search radar.
- SC: Mid-sized version of the 1.5 meter (200 MHz)
SK surface search radar.
- SCR-268: Early US Army gun-laying and
searchlight-direction radar, built by Western Electric. The SCR-268
operated at 1.5 meters (200 MHz) and had vertical and horizontal lobe
switching.
- SCR-270: US Army mobile longwave air-warning set,
built by Westinghouse, operating at 3 meters (100 MHz) and without lobe
switching.
- SCR-271: Fixed-site version of the 3 meter (100
MHz) US Army SCR-270 mobile air-warning radar.
- SCR-516: Modification of US Army SCR-268
gun-laying radar for low-altitude air warning, provided with PPI display.
- SCR-517: US Army modification of the 10 centimeter
(3 GHz) SCR-520 AI radar for ASV.
- SCR-518: Early US Army radio altimeter system.
- SCR-520: Initial US Army 10 centimeter (3 GHz) AI,
built by Western Electric, saw little or no use.
- SCR-521: US version of British ASV.II.
- SCR-527: US copy of British GCI / AMES Type 7
1.5 meter (200 MHz) fighter-controller radar, saw little or no use.
- SCR-540: US Army copy of British 1.5 meter (200
MHz) AI Mark IV, saw little or no use.
- SCR-545: US Army gun-laying system developed by
Bell Labs, featuring both 10 centimeter (3 GHz) and 1.5 meter (200 MHz)
radar with automatic tracking. The SCR-545 was not produced in quantity.
- SCR-582: Coastal defense version of the US Navy
10 centimeter (3 GHz) SG shipboard search radar.
- SCR-584: US Army 10 centimeter (3 GHz)
anti-aircraft radar, integrated with an analog computer designated the
"M-9 Predictor-Corrector Unit" to automatically track targets.
- SCR-602: US built version of British 1.5 meter
(200 MHz) LW portable early-warning radar.
- SCR-717: Improved version of SCR-517 10
centimeter (3 GHz) ASV radar.
- SCR-718C: Improved follow-on to SCR-581 radar
altimeter.
- SCR-720: Major US night fighter radar, operating
at 10 centimeters (3 GHz), used on Northrop P-61 Black Widow.
- SD: US Navy 2.45 meter (122 MHz) submarine
air-warning set, very crude, only capable of providing an alert that an
intruder was in the area.
- SF: Lightweight version of US Navy 10 centimeter (3
GHz) SG shipboard search radar.
- SG: US Navy 10 centimeter (3 GHz) shipboard search
radar built by Raytheon, with rotating antenna, PPI display, and
gyrostabilized mount.
- SJ: US Navy 10 centimeter (3 GHz) submarine
warning radar, with rotating antenna and PPI.
- SK: Improved and very successful version of the US
Navy 1.5 meter (200 MHz) CXAM, with a rotating antenna and PPI display.
Known as the "Flying Bedspring".
- SM: US Navy 10 centimeter (3 GHz) height-finding
and fighter direction radar, used on carriers as a complement to the
SK.
- SO: Ultralight version of US Navy 10 centimeter (3
GHz) SG shipboard search radar.
- SP: Shipboard version of SCR-584 10 centimeter
(3 GHz) anti-aircraft radar on a stabilized mount.
- SV: US Navy 8 centimeter (3.75 GHz) submarine
air-warning radar, a replacement to the SD.
- USN Mark 12: Improved version of FD / USN Mark
4 anti-aircraft radar, incorporating a USN Mark 22 height finder and
automatic tracking.
- USN Mark 22: USN Navy 3 centimeter (10 MHz)
height-finding radar with "orange slice" antenna and nodding operation.
Used as an element of the USN Mark 12 anti-aircraft fire control
radar.
BACK_TO_TOP
* Other US equipment included:
- AN/APN-2 & AN/PPN-1: American copies of British
Rebecca & Eureka radio beacon system.
- AN/APR-2: Wideband automatic scanning SIGINT
receiver.
- AN/ART-3: AKA "Jackal", intended to jam German
tank radios.
- AN/CRT-1A: Early US sonobuoy.
- AN/TRC-1: US radio relay system, providing 1 voice
channel or four teletype channels, operating at 4.29 to 3 meters (70 to
100 MHz). Followed by improved "AN/TRC-2" and "AN/TRC-4", and then the
"AN/TRC-5" and "AN/TRC-6" with more channels.
- Distance Measurement Equipment (DME): Modern
range-finding radio transponder system, used with VOR to form
"VOR/DME", and as an element of TACAN.
- Archies: Radar proximity fuze for the US atomic
bombs, based on AN/APS-13 tail-warning radar.
- Combat Skyspot: Vietnam-era ground-based radar
precision bombing system, AKA AN/MSQ-77, along the general lines of
Oboe.
- Ground Controlled Approach (GCA): Radar-based
landing system, with a 10 centimeter search set with a PPI for tracking
aircraft near the airfield, and two 3 centimeter fine-positioning sets,
one to determine the elevation angle of the aircraft, and the other to
determine its sideways deviation from the proper approach path. An analog
computer determined the aircraft's approach path, and the aircraft was
guided in to the runway by a ground controller using voice radio.
- Instrument Landing System (ILS): Commercial
landing system introduced in 1937, and put in common use after World War
II. ILS used a "right-left" signal in the 108 to 112 MHz range and a
"glide slope" signal in the 329 to 335 MHz range.
- Joan / Eleanor: Narrow beam portable radio system
for secure communications with spies, operating at 1.15 meters (260 MHz).
- Long Range Navigation (LORAN): US hyperbolic
navigation system, using stations with two separated transmitters,
designated "master" and "slave". The initial "LORAN-A" operated in four
bands in the vicinity of 160 meters (1.88 MHz), while the postwar
"LORAN-C" operated around 3,000 meters (100 kHz). The US military also
used a short-range, portable, higher accuracy system known as "LORAN-D" in
the postwar period.
- Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD): Sensor system
carried on Allied aircraft that could detect disturbances of the Earth's
magnetic field caused by a submerged submarine.
- Omega: Postwar US global hyperbolic navigation
system, operating at about 30 km (10 kHz). Often used as a complement to
the VLF navigation system.
- S-27: Commercial wideband radio receiver built by
Halicrafters, used by both the British and the Americans for ferret
missions.
- SCR-194: US backpack AM radio, operating over 10.9
to 5.75 meters (27.5 to 52.2 MHz). Followed by similar "SCR-195",
operating over 5.77 to 4.62 meters (52 to 65 MHz).
- SCR-300: US backpack FM radio, operating over 7.5
to 6.25 meters (40 to 48 MHz).
- SCR-508: US FM radio for vehicles, operating over
15 to 10.75 meters (20 to 27.9 MHz). Followed by similar "SCR-608",
operating over 11.1 to 7.71 meters (27 to 38.9 MHz).
- SCR-522: British-designed US VHF AM radio for
aircraft, with four channels, operating over 3 to 1.92 meters (100 to 156
MHz).
- SCR-536: US AM "handie-talkie" radio, operating over
the 85.7 to 50 meter (3.5 to 6 MHz) range.
- SCR-587 (ARC-1): Wideband SIGINT receiver.
- Short Range Air Navigation (SHORAN): Range-finding
radio transponder system introduced late in the war, led to DME.
- Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN): Modern radio
navigation system, consisting of a radial direction radio beacon coupled
with DME.
- VHF Omni-Range (VOR): Modern radial direction
radio beacon, generally used with DME to form "VOR/DME".
- VLF: Modern US Navy global communications system
to send short messages to submarines underwater, operating at about 30 km
(10 kHz), often used as a complement to Omega as a hyperbolic
navigation system.
- VT: Designation for US-built proximity fuze.
- XARD: Early crude wideband SIGINT receiver.
- YE / YG: US Navy carrier-based homing beacons.
BACK_TO_TOP
* German radars included:
- Berlin: German 10 centimeter (3 GHz) AI, much too
little and too late. Its successor, "Bremen", never reached production.
- Egerland: German 10 centimeter (3 GHz) ground
fire-control system, with a search radar named "Marbach" and a targeting
radar named "Kulmbach".
- Elefant-Ruessel: Odd German "floodlight" radar
system, used for tracking V-2 rocket tests.
- Freya: German ground-based early-warning radar
built by GEMA, with a steerable antenna and operating at 2.4 meters (125
MHz).
- Himmelbett (Four Poster Bed): German night-fighter
direction station, with a Freya search radar and two
Wuerzburg-Riese tracking radars.
- Hohentweil: German ASV radar operating at 50
centimeters (600 MHz).
- Jagdschloss (Hunting Lodge): German ground-based
wide-area search radar, operating around 2 meters (150 MHz). First German
radar with PPI.
- Klein Heidelberg: Unusual German "passive" radar,
picked up direct Chain Home emissions and used a directional antenna
to spot echoes from them.
- Lichtenstein B/C: German AI radar operating at 50
centimeters (600 MHz) with "X"-style antennas, carried on Bf 110 and Ju 88
night fighters.
- Lichtenstein SN-2: Improved Lichtenstein,
operating around 4 meters (75 MHz) with "Elk Antlers" antennas, had some
resistance to window. Often used along with a Lichtenstein B/C set, with
a single X-style antenna mounted between the four Elk's Antlers sets.
- Mammut (Mammoth): German ground-based
fixed-aspect early warning radar, consisting of 16 Freya antennas linked
together. The entire Mammut array was 30 meters across and 10 meters high
(98 by 33 feet), and the radar had a range of 320 kilometers (200 miles).
Mammuts were often set up back-to-back to improve coverage.
- Mannheim: Improved German gun-laying radar, a
follow-on to Wuerzburg with greater range and accuracy. Late production
had automatic target tracking.
- Neptun: German longwave AI follow-on to
Lichtenstein series, with shorter minimum range of about 100 meters (330
feet), and other improvements. Saw little use.
- Seetakt: German shipboard warning radar built by
GEMA, with a steerable array and operating at 80 centimeters (375 MHz) in
production units. Also used in fixed-array coastal-defense sets.
- Wassermann (Waterman): German ground-based
early-warning radar, based on eight or more Freyas mounted vertically on a
rotating tower 60 meters (190 feet) high. Had a range of 240 kilometers
(150 miles) and good height-finding capabilities.
- Wuerzburg: German gun-laying radar built by
Telefunken, with steerable dish antenna, helical scanning, and an
operating band around of 50 centimeters (600 MHz).
- Wuerzburg-Riese: German longer-range version of
Wuerzburg, with bigger dish but the same electronics.
BACK_TO_TOP
* Other German equipment included:
- Erstling (Firstborn): German IFF system, responded
to 2.4 meter (125 MHz) Freya signals. German ground radars operating at
other frequencies used an interrogator named "Kukuck (Cuckoo)" to operate
with Erstling. German night-fighters did not have interrogators.
- Flammen (Flames): Night-fighter device for homing
in on Allied Mark III IFF.
- Flensburg: Night-fighter device for homing in on
British Monica tail-warning radar.
- Freya-laus: German counter-countermeasures mod for
Freya and Mammut radars, using Doppler tracking to sort out
bombers from chaff.
- Kammhuber Kinos (Kammhuber Cinema): German night
fighter control center.
- Karl: German ground-based longwave radar jammer.
- Kettenhund: German airborne longwave radar jammer.
- K-laus: Advanced German counter-countermeasures
scheme for the Wuerzburg radar, combined Doppler tracking with
filtering.
- Knickebein (Crooked Leg): Improved version of
Lorenz landing system for bomber targeting, with two transmitters set up
at different locations, operating at 10 meters (30 MHz) as with Lorenz.
The bomber flew out from the transmitter along one beam, instead of inward
as with Lorenz, and listed for the second beam, which intersected the
first over the target. The error was a few hundred meters at the maximum
distance, which was limited by the line of sight. Formally known as
"X-Leitstrahlbake (Direction Beacon)", with the name Knickebein adopted
due to the bent appearance of the primary transmitting antenna. The
British developed jammers named "Aspirins" to jam the Knickebein signals.
- Korfu: Centimetric radar warning system, similar
to Naxos, but provided better homing capability.
- Lorenz: German commercial blind-landing system
from 1934, which operated at 10 meters (30 MHz) and sent out one beam
carrying Morse-code dashes next to another beam with dots. It actually
used a single transmitter with two antennas, with the transmitter shunted
back and forth between the two using an electromechanical cam-based
switch. A pilot approaching the transmitter would move in between the two
beams until they became a continuous tone at their centerpoint. Effective
range was about 100 kilometers (60 miles).
- Metox: German longwave radar warning receiver
carried on submarines, using a stowable antenna known as the "Cross of
Biscay".
- Naxburg: Naxos centimetric radar warning
receiver mated to Wuerzburg radar dish to track bomber formations.
Used by the German Y-Dienst system.
- Naxos: Night-fighter device for homing in on
10 centimeter (3 GHz) radar emissions. Also used on submarines and with
Wuerzburg sets.
- Sonne (Sun): German radio beacon system that
provided compass information. Known as "Consol" to the Allies and used
after the war.
- Stendal: German "home-on-jam" system, too
inaccurate to be useful.
- Taunus: German counter-countermeasures mod for
Wuerzburg radar, using filtering to sort out persistent radar returns
from transient ones.
- Wasserfloh: German counter-countermeasures mod for
Wassermann radar, using Doppler tracking to sort out bombers from
chaff.
- Wilde Zau (Wild Sow) ): Luftwaffe night fighter
technique in which day fighters attempted to intercept bombers by flying
above a bomber stream to see the targets lit up by the city below.
Effective but hazardous due to landing accidents.
- Wismar: German counter-countermeasures mod for
Wuerzburg, allowed rapid changing of operating band.
- Wuerzlaus: German counter-countermeasures mod for
Wuerzburg radar, using Doppler tracking to sort out bombers from
chaff.
- X-Geraet (X-Device): An evolution of Knickebein,
featuring a much smaller antenna, operating at 5 meters (60 MHz) instead
of 10 meters (30 MHz), and using a needle indicator instead of a tone to
track the beam. The bomber rode up one beam as before, but since the
simpler antenna produced a number of side beams, the crew had to pass
through multiple beams from the second transmitter, using them as
"checkpoints" to monitor their approach to the target. X-Geraet was also
referred to as "Wotan 1" by the Germans. The British developed jammers
named "Bromides" to jam X-Geraet signals.
- Y-Dienst: German signals intercept organization,
used passive systems to track bomber formations.
- Y-Geraet (Y-Device): An evolution in turn of
X-Geraet, using a single transmitter instead of two antennas. The antenna
transmitted on two frequencies, with the bomber retransmitting one of the
signals on a slightly different frequency. The phase shift of the
difference between the transmitted and retransmitted frequency was used to
determine the range of the bomber, with the bomber told when to drop their
bombs by the Y-Geraet site. The Germans also called Y-Geraet "Wotan 2".
The British used TV transmitters to jam Y-Geraet transmissions, and later
developed more specialized jammers.
- Zahme Sau (Tame Sow): Luftwaffe night fighter
technique in which pilots were vectored into a bomber stream to find
targets on their own.
- Zwilling (Twin): Unsuccessful German IFF system,
responded to 50 centimeter (600 MHz) Wuerzburg signals.
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* Japanese radars included:
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* There's a certain sort of interest in writing a book on a fairly obscure
subject like World War II radar. To be sure, it's a topic that relatively
few people are interested in and would care to hear about, but it is a fun
detective game to try to track down the information.
In addition, there's more to it than magnetrons and antennas. The
development of radar was very much a story of "engineers at war", with the
combatants locked in an exhausting struggle of measure and countermeasure
where many lives were at stake. As the story shows, some of the engineers,
like Alan Blumlein, were killed in the course of their work.
The other aspect of this story is of Anglo-American collaboration. The US
and the UK have an odd friendship, marked by rivalries and culture clashes,
but for all the bickering the radar story shows the two nations are as thick
as thieves. I have tried to be even-handed in my treatment of the different
nations in the story, not just the US and the UK but also Germany and Japan,
pointing out strengths, and in all fairness failings, among all the
combatants.
To be sure, as a Yank I can't escape some bias whether I know it or not, but
it seems to me that there is a strong basis in fact for seeing, as this
document does, American dominance in radar technology towards the end of the
conflict. I make no apologies for this. The British were exhausted and the
Americans simply had more resources to throw at radar. Yanks tempted to get
smug about this, however, should remember that the Americans couldn't have
got anywhere near as far as they did if it hadn't been for Winston
Churchill's insistence on passing British technology across the Atlantic in
1940 -- not to mention the extraordinary cooperation received by the Rad Lab
and RRL from the British TRE.
* Incidentally, one of the many annoying issues in putting this document
together was units. I have a "metric first" policy in my writings, but even
that didn't straighten out the issue of whether to use wavelength or
frequency. I eventually decided that I found it at least useful for myself
to use both, though it is admittedly a bit cluttered. This got a little
strange for descriptions of radios, which are almost never described using
wavelength, but I decided to stick with the convention of the rest of the
text for the sake of consistency.
* Primary sources include:
- THE SECRET WAR by Francis Russell and the editors of Time-Life, TIME-LIFE
BOOKS, 1984 / R.V. Jones was a contributor to this book.
- THE HISTORY OF US ELECTRONIC WARFARE (VOLUME 1) by Dr. Alfred Price,
Association of Old Crows, 1984
- MODERN SUBMARINE WARFARE by David Miller and John Jordan, Military Press,
1987. This book provided a few short comments on submarine radar
- NIGHT FIGHTER by Robert Delve, Arms & Armour Press, 1995
- THE INVENTION THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Robert Buderi, Simon & Schuster /
Sloan Technology Series, 1996
- A RADAR HISTORY OF WORLD WAR II by Louis Brown, IOP Publishing, 1999
- "Electrotechnology In World War II: It Was The Driver And The Driven",
and following, by Trudy E. Bell & others, IEEE SPECTRUM, August and
September 1987
- "Luftwaffe Nachtflieger" by John Weal, WINGS OF FAME, Volume 14/15
Some websites were consulted as well. Most of them only provided small bits
and pieces, not all of which seemed trustworthy, but a few proved useful.
Good sites included "McMahon's Radars", a technical reminiscence of WW II
radars; Steve Bragg's "SCR-584 Radar Tribute Page"; and particularly Dick
Barrett's "Radar Pages", devoted to British air defense radars.
Incidentally, all the Rad Lab volumes are still available, on compact disk.
I did get my hands on it, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to wading
through it.
* This document was originally built around notes from articles published in
IEEE SPECTRUM in 1987. However, after I completed notes from these articles,
I ran into Buderi's THE INVENTION THAT CHANGED THE WORLD and used that to
flesh out the notes greatly, and the v1.0 edition of this document owed much
to Buderi's book. The section on the "Battle of the Beams" was mostly taken
from an installment of the History Channel's SECRETS OF WORLD WAR II, with
the appropriate title of THE BATTLE OF THE BEAMS.
The v1.0 version was fun to write, but the same could not be said of the
v2.0.0 version. It was a major rewrite, almost three times the size of the
original, heavily based on Brown's RADAR HISTORY OF WORLD WAR II. This book
is a gold mine of information, but written in a style that can be only be
politely described as "exasperating", providing bits and pieces of sometimes
incomplete information that had to be sifted out and assembled. It was
an exhausting effort and when I finally came back and polished it up into the
v2.0.1 version, to no surprise I found a fair amount of fractured writing
that needed fixing.
The SPECTRUM articles covered codes and codebreaking as well, but that turned
out to be a topic unto itself, and is discussed in a separate online
document. Other online documents discuss the V-1 and German guided munitions
in detail.
The section on radio relays in this chapter had a personal interest to me. I
did a hitch in the US Army Signal Corps in 1972 through 1975 as a radio relay
operator, setting up and operating the well-known Canadian Marconi AN/GRC-103
VHF relay system, and later the AN/GRC-144 microwave relay system.
* Revision history:
v1.0 / 01 mar 00
v1.1 / 01 jun 00 / Review & polish.
v2.0.0 / 01 feb 03 / Major rewrite, from 4 chapters to 12.
v2.0.1 / 01 feb 05 / Review & polish.
v2.0.2 / 01 jan 07 / Review & polish.
v2.0.3 / 01 may 09 / Review & polish.
v2.0.4 / 01 mar 11 / Review & polish.
v2.0.5 / 01 feb 13 / Review & polish.
v2.0.6 / 01 jan 15 / Review & polish.
v2.0.7 / 01 dec 16 / Review & polish.
v2.0.8 / 01 nov 18 / Review & polish.
v2.0.9 / 01 oct 20 / Review & polish.
v2.1.0 / 01 sep 22 / Review & polish.
v2.1.1 / 01 aug 24 / Review & polish.
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