Recent from talks
Radar, Anti-Aircraft
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Radar, Anti-Aircraft
Radar, Anti-Aircraft, or simply AA radar for short, was a classification system for British Army radars introduced in 1943 and used into the 1960s when these systems were replaced by missiles with their own integral radar systems. The classification included subcategories, Number 1 through 8, as well as the many individual systems which were assigned Marks.
Some of the Army radars pre-date the introduction of this classification system and had their own nomenclature that tended to remain in use even after they officially received new names. Notable among these are the Gun Laying and Searchlight Control categories. Additionally, equipment introduced after the classification system often have rainbow codes that they are well known by. Some were also used by the Royal Air Force and thus also had an AMES number.
Originally known as GL Mk. I radar, AA No.1 were short range gun laying radars operating in the 1.5 m VHF band used to provide information for an anti-aircraft gun battery. The Mk. 1 version provided only range information, but these were modified to provide elevation and bearing in the Mk. I*, and then redesigned completely for the more accurate Mk. II version. The name AA No. 1 was assigned after the systems were already being replaced, and they were never widely referred to by the new name, remaining better known as GL Mk. I both during and after the war. The microwave-frequency systems that replaced them were assigned Number 3. There were three entries in the Number 1 classification:
AA No.2 grouped together a number of otherwise unrelated radar systems formerly known as Searchlight Control, or SLC for short. These radars were associated with individual searchlights, providing their operators with enough directional information that the target aircraft could be picked up in the beam of the light. Once lit up, gunners could use their optical sighting equipment for the final aiming.
The first system, in versions Mk. 1 through 7, operated on the widely used 1.5 m band. This frequency was originally developed for airborne radar systems, using shorter wavelengths than Chain Home in order to reduce the required antenna size. For the SLC role the system was greatly simplified and built inexpensively. Over 10,000 of these early SLC radars were built in a production run spanning from June 1940 to December 1943. These Marks were all identical electronically, differing only on what they searchlight they were mounted on.
AA No. 2 also included the entirely new Mk. 8 and 9, which used a cavity magnetron to work in the 10 cm microwave band, allowing the antennas to be greatly reduced in size. These were given very low priority due to the arrival of larger microwave radars that could directly guide guns without searchlight assistance, and ongoing improvements to ground controlled interception and aircraft interception (AI) radars that meant that searchlights were no longer needed to assist night fighters. The first examples of the Mk. 9 arrived in September 1944, with 350 delivered in total by the end of the run in the immediate post-war era.
AA Number 3 collected a wide variety of microwave-frequency gun laying radars, mostly following the Marks of the earlier Gun Laying category. This was one of the few categories that was used extensively in the post-war era, and thus one of the few that contains entries without a former GL name.
The first entries into this group were originally known as GL Mk. III radar. There were two primary versions of this system, the Mk. III(C) from Canada, and the Mk. III(B) from Britain. These became the No.3 Mk. 1 and Mk. 2, respectively. These units had long development periods and only began widespread deployment in 1943, when they were quickly overtaken by the US SCR-584, and production was curtailed. About 1,500 of the two systems were delivered in total, with deliveries continuing to the end of the war. An advanced auto-tracking system that could be used with the Mk. 3 was developed in 1944 under the code name "Glaxo". Radars equipped with Glaxo were assigned the name AA No. 3 Mk. 4, but it was not taken into service due to the arrival of the SCR-584 which had similar features.
Hub AI
Radar, Anti-Aircraft AI simulator
(@Radar, Anti-Aircraft_simulator)
Radar, Anti-Aircraft
Radar, Anti-Aircraft, or simply AA radar for short, was a classification system for British Army radars introduced in 1943 and used into the 1960s when these systems were replaced by missiles with their own integral radar systems. The classification included subcategories, Number 1 through 8, as well as the many individual systems which were assigned Marks.
Some of the Army radars pre-date the introduction of this classification system and had their own nomenclature that tended to remain in use even after they officially received new names. Notable among these are the Gun Laying and Searchlight Control categories. Additionally, equipment introduced after the classification system often have rainbow codes that they are well known by. Some were also used by the Royal Air Force and thus also had an AMES number.
Originally known as GL Mk. I radar, AA No.1 were short range gun laying radars operating in the 1.5 m VHF band used to provide information for an anti-aircraft gun battery. The Mk. 1 version provided only range information, but these were modified to provide elevation and bearing in the Mk. I*, and then redesigned completely for the more accurate Mk. II version. The name AA No. 1 was assigned after the systems were already being replaced, and they were never widely referred to by the new name, remaining better known as GL Mk. I both during and after the war. The microwave-frequency systems that replaced them were assigned Number 3. There were three entries in the Number 1 classification:
AA No.2 grouped together a number of otherwise unrelated radar systems formerly known as Searchlight Control, or SLC for short. These radars were associated with individual searchlights, providing their operators with enough directional information that the target aircraft could be picked up in the beam of the light. Once lit up, gunners could use their optical sighting equipment for the final aiming.
The first system, in versions Mk. 1 through 7, operated on the widely used 1.5 m band. This frequency was originally developed for airborne radar systems, using shorter wavelengths than Chain Home in order to reduce the required antenna size. For the SLC role the system was greatly simplified and built inexpensively. Over 10,000 of these early SLC radars were built in a production run spanning from June 1940 to December 1943. These Marks were all identical electronically, differing only on what they searchlight they were mounted on.
AA No. 2 also included the entirely new Mk. 8 and 9, which used a cavity magnetron to work in the 10 cm microwave band, allowing the antennas to be greatly reduced in size. These were given very low priority due to the arrival of larger microwave radars that could directly guide guns without searchlight assistance, and ongoing improvements to ground controlled interception and aircraft interception (AI) radars that meant that searchlights were no longer needed to assist night fighters. The first examples of the Mk. 9 arrived in September 1944, with 350 delivered in total by the end of the run in the immediate post-war era.
AA Number 3 collected a wide variety of microwave-frequency gun laying radars, mostly following the Marks of the earlier Gun Laying category. This was one of the few categories that was used extensively in the post-war era, and thus one of the few that contains entries without a former GL name.
The first entries into this group were originally known as GL Mk. III radar. There were two primary versions of this system, the Mk. III(C) from Canada, and the Mk. III(B) from Britain. These became the No.3 Mk. 1 and Mk. 2, respectively. These units had long development periods and only began widespread deployment in 1943, when they were quickly overtaken by the US SCR-584, and production was curtailed. About 1,500 of the two systems were delivered in total, with deliveries continuing to the end of the war. An advanced auto-tracking system that could be used with the Mk. 3 was developed in 1944 under the code name "Glaxo". Radars equipped with Glaxo were assigned the name AA No. 3 Mk. 4, but it was not taken into service due to the arrival of the SCR-584 which had similar features.