Show TJ radar saved britain will remodel industry electronics proves of great value to american can air and naval forces during present war by news analyst and commentator service union trust B building ul iding washington D C this is fi tasi first of 0 two articles by mr air Bau baukhage khaRe revealing re vealia some ol of the re remarkable a achievements c ol of radar and explaining ho hom iv it operates little by little the world Is learning in 9 more of the secrets hidden in that tha t mag magic 1 c five letter wor which spelled belled backward or forward m means e ans the same thing but whose real meaning Is still a mystery I 1 m mean can RADAR R A D A R I 1 have written it down that way because its derivation is one mystery that we can reveal before it went into classification which Is what they say in the army when they mean something cant be mentioned in public radar was an important but little known copyrighted commercial label it to la really four words in one radio direction and ranging early in the war there were some stories printed about a german airplane which had a television camera i in n it which could send back pictures of the territory beneath it shortly thereafter all mention of such an apparatus stopped and the dark and mysterious career of radar began radar and television are not the same thing but there are similarities lari ties and if we can believe that actors in a studio in the RCA building in new york can be seen out in westchester county by people sitting around a television set we can believe that another little gadget can r register gister the presence and location of a distant object like a plane or a warship and if it is moving tell which way it is going and how fast radar will soon be industries marvel A As s I 1 said we knew the germans had been working on such a device early in the war this is how radar wab born in this country back in 1932 two scientists observed that cometh something ing happened to a radio wave when it hit the wide side of a building and also when a ship went across its path research continued but the war sent radar into hiding on november 14 1042 a jap battleship slipping through the sea near the solomon islands was suddenly struck by a salvo of shots from an american ship eight miles away the japs went down to davy jones looker locker without knowing what hit them ubey they never saw the american ship which fired the shots nor did the americans ever see the japanese warship except as it appeared as a A a radar finds military targets little blip of light on a tiny screen radar did it on a winter day I 1 sat in a room at the willard hotel in washington london was trembling under the terror of night bombing sitting at a table before us was an officer of the royal air force after a few general remarks he made what was to us an astounding statement namely that defense against daytime bombing had been perfected and a method of ending the effectiveness of night attack would soon be in operation the tide had been turned in the battle of britain and though we know it then radar had done that too between these two events was another one we dont like to talk too much about over in the th hawaiian islands on de december ember 7 1941 pat joseph lockard though riot pot supposed to be on duty M the time was listening to a I 1 detector an apparatus which strangers allowed to approach in those days lockard detected an airplane about 30 miles away ho he reported it to his superior but that gentleman knowing american planes were out at the time took no action lockard was eventually given the distinguished service medal the rest we had better try to forget forge while we still must remember pearl harbor human service failed ailed to carry the message that the jap air fleet was coming but radar had done its part of the job radar has grown to be a giant since then this is what impact an official publication of the assistant chief of 0 air staff intelligence says the use of radar in military operations erat ions is in its infancy but it has permeated every phase of air warfare it is used in strategic bombing by both british and american heavies it makes night fighting and acl intruder operations possible it literally saved england in the battle of britain and it provided for or the control and direction of 0 virtually every day or night sortie flown by the tactical air force planes during the winter oi of 1944 45 the importance of the part which the american tactical air forces played irom from the battle ot of normandy right up to VE V E day Is a acknowledged by everyone though there M may ay be differences of opinion as to the relative achievements of the various branches of the service tactical bombing and strafing is that part of air force activity which is an integral portion of the individual land force operations as much a part ol of the battle plan and its execution as the disposition of artillery strategic bombing Is the softening up the long range air attacks and radar was a vital part of the su success access ol of the tactical operations in europe from D day on because of its help in getting a fighter bomber to its target and getting it home again in weather which is too bad for or normal operations it controlled night fighters photo and mapping planes picked out targets and kept track of enemy planes in the area to quote an official comment 1 on the western front despite constant overcast conditions during the last winter the IX and were able to operate at maximum strength continually on the other hand the ast 1st tactical air force which was without radar equipment last november flew only two missions that month one of these abortive because of the weather As to the long range strategic bomber which has to cross half a continent to get where it Is going if bad weather envelopes it radar Is of course invaluable for keeping its location radar is also an integral part of the fire control commercial aviation will profit greatly speculation as to radars ultimate possibilities are unlimited both in war and peace any ordnance expert will tell you that a controlled missile that is a bomb such as the deadly german IV bombs W which flew from holland to england can with certain improvements men t s be made much more deadly not only can they be made to hy fly much farther across the atlantic over the north pole but they can be accurately aimed and directed at an area such as a city and ruthlessly destroy it radar can do that and many other things it has not yet attempted there are arc likewise an infinite number of ways in which radar can and will serve a peaceful world in commercial aviation the man in the control tower the traffic cop at the airport will be able to locate all of the planes in the vicinity by day or by night in cloudy weather and clear and it must be remembered that regulating the traffic is going to be one of the most important problems of tomorrows skyways sky ways for there will be a tremendous increase in the number of planes which will be in use and a similar Jn increase crease in their speed and size radar can warn the planes themselves se ives against collision and the pr presence es of land mas masses ses high tension bensio n wires tall buildings or other obstacles to their flight and of course will permit sate safe linding landing even in a dense fog |