Electronic Warfare or "RADAR"

[KG_Panzerschreck]

ELECTRONIC WARFARE

While most people belive that electronic warfare is a modern developement, most of the equipment that is used in warfare today, got its initial baptism of fire during WW2.

Without going into alot of details and taking up too much space on the Website, i have decided to make a list that gives the time of its intruction into service, the country that used it, the items name, and a brief listing of its capabilities in a year by year progression from the beginning of the war to the end*#.


1940

Month - Feb.
User - Germany
Item - Knickenbein
Function - Airborn navigation using signals from ground transmitters. Essential for effective night bombing.

Month - June
User - Germany
Item - Wurzburg
Function - Improved ground radar with a 40-KM range. It could plot altitude and was used to to control flak guns.

Month - Sept.
User - Allies
Item - Asperin
Function - Jammer to prevent use of Knickbein.

Month - Sept.
User - Germany
Item - Freya
Function - Improved ground radar with a 120-KM range. It could not detect altitude but gave an early warning of bomber approach.

Month - Oct.
User - Germany
Item - Wurzburg II
Function - A pair of radars user together. One used to track bombers and the other to track interceptors. Deadly when used at night.


1941

Month - Sept.
User - Germany
Item - Wurzburg Reise
Function - Improved Wurzburg with a 65-KM range.


1942


Month - Feb.
User - Germany
Item - Lichtenstein
Function - Airborn radar for night fighters. Range varied from 200 to 3,000 meters.

Month - March
User - Germany
Item - Mammut
Function - More powerful early warning radar with a range of 330-KM. It could not detect altitude.

Month - March
User - Germany
Item - Wassermann
Function - More powerful early warning radar with a range of 240-KM. It could detect altitude.

Month - March
User - Allies
Item - Gee
Function - Airborn navigation using signals from ground transmitters. At 600-KM from transmitters, aircraft knew location to within 10-KM.

Month - June
User - Allies
Item - Shaker
Function - Gee equipped pathfinder aircraft drop bombs blind to provide aiming points for for other equipped night bombers following.

Month - Aug.
User - Allies
Item - Moonshine
Function - Aircraft device that detected Freya signal and increased the strenght of those bounced back, making the aircraft look like a larger bomber formation. This caused the Germans to send fighters after the wrong bomber formations.

Month - Aug.
User - Germany
Item - Heinrich
Function - Transmitter that jammed Gee signals, making Gee unusable by november 1942.

Month - Nov.
User - Allies
Item - Mandrel
Function - Electronic jammer fitted to lead aircraft to jam Freya radars.

Month - Nov.
User - Allies
Item - Tinsel
Function - Electronic jammer that disrupted German ground to air communications making German night fighters less effective. Also a device that amplified bomber engine noise so as to confuse ground observers who tracked bomber formations by their engine noise.

Month - Dec.
User - Allies
Item - Oboe
Function - 430-KM range ground radar that calculated a bombers precice location and sent a signal when bombs should be dropped. Used by day and night.



1943


Month - Jan.
User - Allies
Item - H2S
Function - Ground mapping airborn radar. It could distinguish between water, cities, and rural areas. Not fully debugged until november 1943.

Month - March
User - Allies
Item - Monica
Function - Tail warning radar for night bombers. Would alert the crew if another aircraft was within 1,000 meters of its aircraft.

Month - March
User - Allies
Item - Boozer
Function - Radar receiver {"Radar Warning Reciever" in modern terms}, alerted the crew when they were being detected by Wurzburg or Lichtenstein radars.

Month - June
User - Allies
Item - A1 Mk 9 {Also known as SCR 720}
Function - Improved radar for night fighters.

Month - June
User - Allies
Item - Serrate
Function - Radar receiver for night fighters that detected German Lichtenstein radar. It allowed Allied night fighter pilots to determine where the German fighter was and engage it.

Month - July
User - Allies
Item - Window
Function - Tinfoil strips, cut to the right lenght to cause an electronic "smoke screen" on German radar screens, behind which anything could be happening. Bundles of it would be tossed out of allied aircraft. Also known as "Chaff"

Month - Aug.
User - Allies
Item - Special Tinsel
Function - Updated Jammers to deal with new German aircraft radios.

Month - Sept.
User - Germany
Item - Naxburg
Function - Receivers that could detect H2S ground mapping radars from over 300-KM away.

Month - Oct.
User - Allies
Item - ABC
Function - Airborn transmitters that would jam new radios in German fighters and make it difficult for the fighters to get information from the ground radar and control system.

Month - Oct.
User - Allies
Item - Corona
Function - Special Tinsel jammers that instead of jamming, sent out false instructions to German fighters.

Month - Oct.
User - Germany
Item - SN-2
Function - Night fighter radar that was immune to window. Had a range of 400 to 6,000 meters.

Month - Nov.
User - Germany
Item - Wurzlaus
Function - Modified Wurzburg radar that could sometimes differentiate between stationary tinfoil clouds and moving aircraft.

Month - Nov.
User - Germany
Item - Nurnburg
Function - Modified Wurzburg radar that gave a electronic sound to the operator as well as a blip on the radar screen. After some training, an operator could use his ears to tell the differance between the radar signal comming back from a chaff cloud and one comming back from moving aircraft.

Month - Nov.
User - Germany
Item - Flensburg
Function - An airborn receiver in German fighters that warned them when they were being detected by allied Monica tail radar.

Month - Dec.
User - Allied
Item - Dartboard
Function - Jamming German radio stations that were used to send coded messages to fighter pilots.



1944



Month - Jan.
User - Allies
Item - Oboe 2
Function - Oboe with a new type of radar signal.

Month - Jan.
User - Germany
Item - Naxos
Function - Airborn receiver for allied ground mapping radar transmissions.

Month - April
User - Germany
Item - Jagdschloss
Function - Ground radar that could switch between four different frequencies and thus be more resistant to jamming. Range 150-KM.

Month - April
User - Germany
Item - Egon
Function - Fighter control radio that was more resistant to jamming and enabled ground controllers and radars to continually guide fighters. Range 200-KM.

Month - Aug.
User - Allies
Item - Jostle
Function - Airborn jammer that jammed a broad range of frequencies simultaneously.

Month - Sept.
User - Allies
Item - Window 2
Function - A new tinfoil lenght that would jam SN-2 radar. Window had to be cut to a precice lenght to jam a specific frequency.

Month - Oct.
User - Allies
Item - Serrate 4
Function - New serrate that could detect and locate the new German SN-2 radar.

Month - Dec.
User - Allies
Item - Perfectos
Function - The Germans were now using electronic ID {IFF, "Identify Friend or Foe} and Perfectos could trigger the IFF and use the subsequent ID signal to locate German fighters. The allies used IFF in 1940, primarily to avoid their bombers mistaken for enemy aircraft by allied radar. It took the Germans years to catch on to the advantages of IFF and develope their own.

Month - Dec.
User - Allies
Item - Micro-H
Function - Alternative to Gee for use once the Germans discovered a way to jam the original Gee.


* All information from the timeline was taken from the book, "Dirty Little Secrets Of World War II", by James F. Dunnigan & Alber A. Nofi, Pgs. 203 - 207

# Also my source gave no info on the use and stats of any of the RADAR that was in use before Knickenbein, thats why it wasnt included in the list. Im not trying to exclude it. The point of my list is to point out the arms race the derived from the "original" use of the British RADAR and to point out the amazing accomplishments made along the way on "all" sides, not to denegrate anyones original efforts.


As you can plainly see, there was an extensive electronic arms race that ran the lenght of the entire war. Im sure many of you have already had some prior knowledge of some of the innovations in the above text, but i'd venture to guess there were more than a few suprises in there as well. I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as i enjoyed bringing to you.

[cyberia]

That's really fascinating, KGP! You can see all moves and counter moves.

Really cool stuff.

[Wolster]

Whilst in charge of research in the RAF Sir Hugh Dowding push the development of RDF or Radar. When he took over fighter command he oversaw development of the "Dowding System" – an integrated air defence system of radar, raid plotting and radio control of aircraft. He also introduced modern monoplane aircraft into service.

And we all know where that lead!!

[Aussie Dave]

That was very informative KGP and an excellent post.

Its a shame in WWII that poor Dowding (and Parks.) got the political short end of the stick and Leigh-Mallory didn't.

After the Battle of Britain, Air Chief Marshal Charles Portal, the new Chief of the Air Staff, who had agreed with Leigh-Mallory, removed both Park and Dowding from their posts.
Leigh-Mallory took over from Park as commander of 11 Group.
As a beneficiary of the change in command, Leigh-Mallory has been accused of forming a plot to overthrow Dowding.

Leigh-Mallory came in for criticism as the 'Circus' raids over enemy territory caused heavy RAF casualties with over 500 pilots lost in 1941 alone, losing four aircraft for each German aircraft destroyed.

Cheers,
Dave

[Jim O]

Very informative. I also enjoyed the point-counterpoint "game" that they played.

[Geek44]

Thanks KGP it's fascinating stuff. There's nothing I like more in a WW2 aircraft (other than large guns) than some pimples, domes and/or RADAR arrays. Some of the later war Luftwaffe nightfighters looked more like porcupines than aircraft.

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by Geek44

Thanks KGP it's fascinating stuff. There's nothing I like more in a WW2 aircraft (other than large guns) than some pimples, domes and/or RADAR arrays. Some of the later war Luftwaffe nightfighters looked more like porcupines than aircraft.

Very interesting info KG!

One thing that isn't indicated is the frequencies at which these various devices operate. As the technology developed, the operating frequencies went up. Higher frequencies allow better spacial resolution for radar, and smaller antennae for all devices (look how small the 880 MHz antennae on a cell phone is!). It also makes it harder to jam and detect. The early navigation devices would operate in the kiloHertz (KHz) range (like AM radio) while the radars would operate in the megaHertz (MHz) range (like FM radio). Modern radars operate in the GigaHertz (GHz) frequencies (like your 2.5 GHz cordless phone) and the cutting edge of radio technology is now moving into the TeraHertz range (you have probably never seen/used this unless you work in a lab like me). The far infrared frequencies are around 100 THz by comparison (near infrared is used for night vison).

In the biz, Radio Frequency technologies are referred to lovingly as "RF" (Arrrr, F like a Pirate would say it)...

[KG_Panzerschreck]

NP gents and gals, glad to share.

[Aussie Dave]

Originally Posted by Pirate-Drakk

Very interesting info KG!

One thing that isn't indicated is the frequencies at which these various devices operate. As the technology developed, the operating frequencies went up. Higher frequencies allow better spacial resolution for radar, and smaller antennae for all devices (look how small the 880 MHz antennae on a cell phone is!). It also makes it harder to jam and detect. The early navigation devices would operate in the kiloHertz (KHz) range (like AM radio) while the radars would operate in the megaHertz (MHz) range (like FM radio). Modern radars operate in the GigaHertz (GHz) frequencies (like your 2.5 GHz cordless phone) and the cutting edge of radio technology is now moving into the TeraHertz range (you have probably never seen/used this unless you work in a lab like me). The far infrared frequencies are around 100 THz by comparison (near infrared is used for night vison).

In the biz, Radio Frequency technologies are referred to lovingly as "RF" (Arrrr, F like a Pirate would say it)...

KGP did put a disclaimer in the bottom of his original post stating that no specs were included in his source material.

# Also my source gave no info on the use and stats of any of the RADAR that was in use before Knickenbein, thats why it wasnt included in the list. Im not trying to exclude it. The point of my list is to point out the arms race the derived from the "original" use of the British RADAR and to point out the amazing accomplishments made along the way on "all" sides, not to denegrate anyones original efforts.

But to give you some idea of the RF's used, the original Wurzburg radar used 7-11kW / 3,750Hz with a Max range of 29km, whilst the later Jagdschloss
radar worked on 80kW /120-158MHz with a Max range of 150km and later refinements increased its range from 150km to 300km.

Cheers,
Dave

[Biscuit]

Its interesting to note that in the beginning it was all Germany, and then the Allies would seek to block. Then as the war progressed it turned into more a true point/counterpoint situation. It all makes sense though, as Germany was gearing up and everyone else was putting their head in the sand.