Weapons Systems
Radar
Also Known As Radio Detection and Ranging
Modern, United Kingdom
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Radar, fielded in war as a means of detecting approaching aircraft and ships by radio reflection well before they came into visual range, entered operational service in Britain as the Chain Home network, built up along the English coast in stages from 1937 to 1939. Chain Home gave the Royal Air Force the advance warning it needed to intercept incoming German raids rather than keep costly standing patrols aloft, an advantage credited as a significant factor in the Royal Air Force's victory in the Battle of Britain in 1940. Wartime demand for smaller, more capable sets also drove the development of airborne radar for night fighters and maritime patrol aircraft over the rest of the war. This entry covers radar as fielded and used in war; the invention and technical development of radar itself is Technology's own subject, cross-linked rather than duplicated here.
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Disputed
Introduced YearBritain's Chain Home radar network became operational in stages from 1937 to 1939 and was instrumental in the Battle of Britain (1940); the invention of radar itself happened earlier and is Technology's own facet, not restated here. Weapon ClassDetection and early-warning system (radio-based aircraft and ship detection) 1 In the Other Atlases
- Also in Technology and Engineering Atlas: Radar, the same subject.
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