Avionics News April 2021 - 56

series
B Y

T H O M A S

I N M A N

Airborne
surveillance history

T

his story begins with the start of World War
and whether or not it was getting closer or farther away,
II and a movie review. German aircraft posed
but they could not tell if the targets were British aircraft
a terrible threat to England. In response,
returning home or German airplanes on the attack. For this
the British developed a method of using radio waves to
reason, the engineers developed an active radar system
detect an aircraft and determine
called Identification, Friend or Foe,
its range. Radio detection and
or IFF. It used the same principles as
ranging became RADAR. Today,
radar; the target could be detected,
THE EARLIEST
the acronym has become a word
and by measuring the time between
SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS
of its own. To get the general idea
transmitted and received energy,
REQUIRED A PLATOON
of how a British team overcame
its range could be determined. The
OF TECHNICIANS AND
obstacles to make radar work, I
difference is that IFF uses an active
OPERATORS TRAINED
recommend the film " Castles in
transmitter on the aircraft.
TO INTERPRET THE
the Sky. " The movie glosses over
The IFF system used a technique
SQUIGGLES ON A
some of the technical details, but it
known as secondary surveillance
CATHODE RAY TUBE
does a good job of describing the
radar, or SSR. The SSR system
DISPLAY. TODAY, ANYONE
challenges faced by the scientists.
would send multiple bursts of
WITH A SMARTPHONE
Radar works by transmitting
energy coded by time. The IFF on
CAN DOWNLOAD AN
a powerful burst of energy and
board the aircraft would receive the
APPLICATION
TO
SEE
WHAT
starting a timer. The energy will
energy bursts, validate them, and
AIRCRAFT ARE FLYING AND
bounce back off an object and be
then transmit its own coded set of
WHERE THEY ARE GOING.
received (detected) by a sensitive
energy bursts, or pulses. With IFF,
receiver. The time between the
the Allies could tell which aircraft
transmitted energy burst, or pulse,
were their own. Furthermore, they
and the received pulse can be used to calculate range.
could identify positively which airplane or group of
Once the British had radar working, they had a new
airplanes were being seen.
problem to overcome. The blips on the screen could
The original radar antennas were fixed. In addition,
not be identified positively as friend or foe. The radar
they weren't just one antenna, but an array of antennas
operators could tell an aircraft was present, its range,
designed to increase the effectiveness of the transmitted
56

avionics news

*

april

2021



Avionics News April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2021

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Avionics News April 2021 - Intro
Avionics News April 2021 - No label
Avionics News April 2021 - Cover2
Avionics News April 2021 - 1
Avionics News April 2021 - 2
Avionics News April 2021 - 3
Avionics News April 2021 - 4
Avionics News April 2021 - 5
Avionics News April 2021 - 6
Avionics News April 2021 - 7
Avionics News April 2021 - 8
Avionics News April 2021 - 9
Avionics News April 2021 - 10
Avionics News April 2021 - 11
Avionics News April 2021 - 12
Avionics News April 2021 - 13
Avionics News April 2021 - 14
Avionics News April 2021 - 15
Avionics News April 2021 - 16
Avionics News April 2021 - 17
Avionics News April 2021 - 18
Avionics News April 2021 - 19
Avionics News April 2021 - 20
Avionics News April 2021 - 21
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Avionics News April 2021 - 24
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Avionics News April 2021 - 26
Avionics News April 2021 - 27
Avionics News April 2021 - 28
Avionics News April 2021 - 29
Avionics News April 2021 - 30
Avionics News April 2021 - 31
Avionics News April 2021 - 32
Avionics News April 2021 - 33
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Avionics News April 2021 - 53
Avionics News April 2021 - 54
Avionics News April 2021 - 55
Avionics News April 2021 - 56
Avionics News April 2021 - 57
Avionics News April 2021 - 58
Avionics News April 2021 - 59
Avionics News April 2021 - 60
Avionics News April 2021 - 61
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Avionics News April 2021 - 63
Avionics News April 2021 - 64
Avionics News April 2021 - 65
Avionics News April 2021 - 66
Avionics News April 2021 - 67
Avionics News April 2021 - 68
Avionics News April 2021 - 69
Avionics News April 2021 - 70
Avionics News April 2021 - 71
Avionics News April 2021 - 72
Avionics News April 2021 - Cover3
Avionics News April 2021 - Cover4
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