Radar Origins Worldwide

PREFACE

Who invented radar? What were the evolutionary developments? When and where did these events occur, and why did they come about? This book contains my attempt to answer the who, what, when, where, and why of radar origins worldwide.

Of necessity, the book also includes a bit of how. Technical terms are included (hopefully they are suitably explained), but the extensive mathematics and physics of this technology has been left out – there is but a single equation.

Worldwide? Yes! Contrary to parochial views sometimes expressed, there were actually eight countries with independently developed radar (or what would later be given this name) before World War II. These were the United States, Great Britain, Germany, the USSR, Japan, the Netherlands, France, and Italy.

In addition, the basic development in Great Britain was conveyed to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa (all technically advanced Commonwealth countries); here pre-war indigenous systems were also pursued. The rudiments came about independently in Hungary, with equipment emerging early in the war years. In all, 13 nations made this development in utmost secrecy, most believing that they were alone in having this capability.

The name “radar” came from the acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging, derived as a cover for the highly secret technology in America. Radio was used for detection in many earlier devices, but the records show that the first equipment for detection plus ranging (distance and direction measurement) was developed at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. A short time later, similar developments were made in Great Britain, followed by Germany.

Although it initiated the technology, the United States was slow to recognize its importance and fund the full development. In contrast, the new technology was immediately embraced in Great Britain and quickly matured into ground-, air-, and sea-based systems. Called RDF for cover, this largely allowed the much smaller Royal Air Force to defeat the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) during the vital Battle for Britain.

Excellent Funkmessgerät (radio measuring instruments; radar) systems were also developed in pre-war Germany. Hitler, however, considered this to be a defensive technology, and directed that offensive equipment be given production priority; World War II might well have ended differently without this restriction.

Both Japan and the USSR had outstanding scientists and engineers engaged in developments that could have led to good radar systems, but it was only after gaining access to British and American systems that this technology was matured. (The Japanese captured a few systems early in the war, and the USSR was given the equipment for strengthening its capability for holding Germany in check on the Eastern Front.)

This book is an outgrowth of my prior book, Solving the Naval Radar Crisis (Trafford Publishing, 2007), concerning the problem of radar implementation in the U.S. Navy at the start of World War II. That book includes a brief historical survey of the development of this technology in several countries. As information was collected for this earlier effort, I realized that, although there were many books and extended papers on the subject, there was no comprehensive treatment of worldwide radar development suitable for the general reader.

A book by Louis Brown, A Radar History of World War II (Institute of Physics Publishing, 1999), comes close to meeting this need, but it is lacking in certain time-line aspects, and “military imperatives” often dominate. Nevertheless, his is an excellent treatise, and I have drawn much from it for the present effort.

Before his untimely death, Dr. Brown reviewed my previous writing and encouraged me in its enlargement. He noted that, “It was free of the great radar myths that still fill many accounts: ‘Before Rad Lab there was nothing.’ ‘We invented it in Britain and everyone copied it from us.’ ‘German radar was second rate and the Japanese did not have any.’ ”

This present book is a distillation of important information derived from hundreds of sources. The most significant of these sources are cited in the Bibliography and References section at the end of each chapter. Many paragraphs, and even sentences, contain material from multiple sources. Citing these with specific references would have greatly decreased the readability; thus, this usual mark of historical research has been regretfully omitted.

Great care has been given to establishing timelines for the major accomplishments, as well as in crediting the performing organizations. With the large number of sources, however, there were many conflicts in attributions and dates, and much effort was devoted to their resolution.

In essentially every activity, the names of key participants are given; about 450 individuals are cited in the Index. Almost all of these persons are recognized for their technical contributions, not the conduct of war. Many brief biographical sketches are included; these are indicated in the Index by underlining the applicable page number.