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Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal 28

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Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal 28 ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL 28 2 The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the contributors concerned and are not necessarily those held by the Royal Air Force Historical Society. Photographs credited to MAP have been reproduced by kind permission of Military Aircraft Photographs. Copies of these, and of many others, may be obtained via http://www.mar.co.uk Copyright 2003: Royal Air Force Historical Society First published in the UK in 2003 by the Royal Air Force Historical Society All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. ISSN 1361-4231 Typeset by Creative Associates 115 Magdalen Road Oxford OX4 1RS Printed by Advance Book Printing Unit 9 Northmoor Park Church Road Mothmoor OX29 5UH 3 CONTENTS A NEW LOOK AT ‘THE WIZARD WAR’ by Dr Alfred Price 15 100 GROUP - ‘CONFOUND AND…’ by AVM Jack Furner 24 100 GROUP - FIGHTER OPERATIONS by Martin Streetly 33 D-DAY AND AFTER by Dr Alfred Price 43 MORNING DISCUSSION PERIOD 51 EW IN THE EARLY POST-WAR YEARS – LINCOLNS TO 58 VALIANTS by Wg Cdr ‘Jeff’ Jefford EW DURING THE V-FORCE ERA by Wg Cdr Rod Powell 70 RAF EW TRAINING 1945-1966 by Martin Streetly 86 RAF EW TRAINING 1966-94 by Wg Cdr Dick Turpin 88 SOME THOUGHTS ON PLATFORM PROTECTION SINCE 92 THE GULF WAR by Flt Lt Larry Williams AFTERNOON DISCUSSION PERIOD 104 SERGEANTS THREE – RECOLLECTIONS OF No 199 Sqn, 112 1952-53 FEEDBACK 118 BOOK REVIEWS 123 4 ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY President Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham GCB CBE DFC AFC Vice-President Air Marshal Sir Frederick Sowrey KCB CBE AFC Committee Chairman Air Vice-Marshal N B Baldwin CB CBE FRAeS Vice-Chairman Group Captain J D Heron OBE Secretary Group Captain K J Dearman Membership Secretary Dr Jack Dunham PhD CPsychol AMRAeS Treasurer John Boyes TD CA Members Air Commodore H A Probert MBE MA *J S Cox Esq BA MA *Dr M A Fopp MA FMA FIMgt *Group Captain C J Finn MPhil RAF *Wing Commander C McDermott RAF Wing Commander C Cummings Editor & Publications Wing Commander C G Jefford MBE BA Manager *Ex Officio 5 CODENAMES APPLIED TO SELECTED EW EQUIPMENT AND ASSOCIATED TACTICS DURING WW II Device/Tactic Description ABC AIRBORNE CIGAR; airborne transmitter to jam German fighter control frequencies in the VHF (34-38 MHz) band AI Airborne Interception; night fighter radar equipment ABDULLAH British radar homing device, to enable fighter-bombers to home on the German Würzburg gun control radar ASPIRIN Ground jammer to counter the German Knickebein navigational aid BENJAMIN Ground jammer to counter the German Y-Gerät bombing aid Bernhard German ground-to-air communication system BOOZER Radar warning receiver fitted to RAF bombers BROMIDE Ground jammer to counter the German X-Gerät bombing aid CARPET Airborne jammer to counter Würzburg Chain Home British early warning radar CORONA British operation, mounted from a ground station in England, to broadcast spoof orders to German night fighters DINA US equivalent of MANDREL (sometimes ‘Dinah’) DOMINO Ground jammer to counter the German Y-Gerät bombing aid Düppel German code name for metal foil dropped to confuse radar Erstling German IFF (FuG 25) FIGET British ground jammer to jam German fighter control channels Flak (Abbreviation of) Fliegerabwehrkanonen, ie anti-aircraft guns Flensburg Airborne radar receiver, to enable German night fighters to home on to the emissions from the British MONICA tail warning radar (FuG 227) Freya German ground early warning radar GEE British hyperbolic navigational aid GLIMMER Feint seaborne invasion near Boulogne, in support of the invasion of France GROCER British airborne jammer to counter the German Lichtenstein night fighter radar HEADACHE Generic term for the measures taken to jam the German Knickebein navigational aid 6 Heinrich German ground jammer to counter the British GEE navigational aid Himmelbett German system of close-controlled night fighting H2S British airborne radar bombing aid Jagdschloss German fighter control radar JOSTLE Airborne high powered jammer to jam German night fighter control channels Kleine German ground passive system for aircraft detection, using Heidelberg reflected radiation from British ground radars Knickebein German beam navigational aid Korfu German ground radar receiver which gave bearings on aircraft transmitting with H2S (Fug 351) Lichtenstein German night fighter radar (FuG 202/212) Mammut German early warning radar MANDREL British airborne jammer to counter the German Freya, Mammut and Wassermann early warning radars operating in the 90 to 120 MHz band Mattscheib German tactic to silhouette bombers flying above cloud at night, by shining searchlights on the base of the cloud Meacon Ground device imitating the transmissions of German radio beacons, thus providing aircraft with false bearings MOONSHINE Radar repeating device to produce a false picture on German ground radars MONICA British tail warning radar fitted to night bombers Naxos Airborne radar receiver, to enable German night fighters to home on emissions from the H2S radar (FuG 350) Nuremberg Modification to the Würzburg gun-laying radar to minimise effects of WINDOW OBOE British airborne radar bombing aid PERFECTOS Device to enable British fighters to home on emissions from the identification equipment of their German counterparts PIPERACK British airborne jammer to counter the German SN-2 night fighter radar Postklystron German ground jammer to counter the British H2S bombing radar Seetakt German naval gun-laying radar, also used to direct the fire of coastal batteries and to provide warning of the approach of enemy ships SERRATE Airborne radar receiver, to enable British night fighters to home on emissions from the Lichtenstein and SN-2 radars of their enemy counterparts 7 SN-2 German night fighter radar (FuG 220) TAXABLE Feint seaborne landing on Cap d’Antifer, in support of the invasion of France TINSEL Modification of bombers’ HF transmitters, to broadcast engine noises on the German fighter control frequencies TUBA US high powered ground jammer, to counter the German Lichtenstein night fighter radar Wassermann German early warning radar Wilde Sau ‘Wild Boar’; German tactic, use of single-engine fighters to engage bombers over the target WINDOW British name for metal foil dropped to confuse radar – referred to as ‘chaff’ in later years Würzburg German radar used to direct AA guns, searchlights and, for a short time, night fighters Würzburg Riese ‘Giant Würzburg’ - German fighter control radar Würzlaus Modification to the Würzburg gun-laying radar, to minimise effects of WINDOW X-Gerät German beam bombing aid Y-control German method of controlling night fighters using modified Y-Gerät equipment Y-Gerät German beam bombing aid Zahme Sau ‘Tame Boar’; German tactics, designed to bring freelance operating night fighters into contact with night bombers en route to and from the target DESIGNATIONS OF SELECTED POST-WAR EW EQUIPMENT Up to and including the early Valiant era, equipment of wartime origin continued to be employed, notably ABC, CARPET, MANDREL, DINA and PIPERACK. While far from exhaustive, the following list, which is roughly chronological, includes most of the additional devices used by the RAF between 1945 and the end of the Cold War, roughly the era bracketed by the introduction of the Lincoln and the withdrawal of the Vulcan. Note that: a. Devices with designations beginning with AN/ were of US origin, much of it supplied under MDAP, although the Westinghouse ALQ-101 pods were purchased. b. PWR = Passive Warning Receiver c. Chaff is the modern term for the wartime WINDOW 8 ARI 5625 MANDREL 2 – spot or barrage comms jammer ARI 5699 PIPERACK – spot or barrage comms jammer ARI 5749 POTATO – experimental (1950s) centimetric radar spot jammer ARI 18006 TORIST – homed on CW jammers (usually in association with AI 21) ARI 18021 FLANGE – Centimetric radar homer (or ground-based D/F as MGRI 18023) ARI 18027 APPENDIX – airborne VHF homer associated with TR1934 ARI 18030 CARPET 4 – spot jammer ARI 18040 APPENDIX – airborne VHF homer associated with TR1935 AN/ALT-4 Noise jammer 7500-11000 MHz AN/ALT-6A E/F Band swept frequency noise jammer AN/ALT-6B D-I Band tuneable noise jammer AN/ALT-7 Swept frequency metric (VHF/UHF comms) noise jammer AN/APA-11 Signal analyser (in conjunction with APR-4 or -9) AN/APA-17 S-band D/F (in conjunction with APR-4) AN/APA-64 Signal analyser (in conjunction with APR-4 or -9); superseded APA-11 AN/APA-69 S/C/X-band D/F (in conjunction with APR-4 or -9) AN/APR-4 Wide (38-1000MHz) band search receiver AN/APR-9 Wide (1000-10750MHz) band search receiver AN/APT-5 CARPET 4 – L Band jammer AN/APT-16 Tuneable centimetric noise jammer, 1000-7700 MHz AN/ARR-5 Narrow band radar or comms search receiver (27-143 MHz) - INDIGO BRACKET – S-Band jammer - RED CARPET – projected X-Band barrage jammer ARI 5800 ORANGE PUTTER - tail warning radar (Canberra) ARI 18044 GREEN SALAD – airborne VHF homer ARI 18074 GREEN PALM - VHF comms barrage jammer (Mks 1A & 2 V-Bombers) ARI 18075 BLUE DIVER - metric barrage jammer* (Mks 1A & 2 V- Bombers) ARI 18076 RED SHRIMP – S (or E)-band barrage jammer (Mks 1A & 2 V-Bombers) ARI 18077 Warning device to prompt dispensing of chaff via ARI 18051 ARI 5919 RED STEER Mk 1 - tail warning radar (Mk 2 V-Bombers) ARI 5952 RED STEER Mk 2 - tail warning radar (Mk 2 V-Bombers) 9 ARI 18051 WINDOW dispensers (Vulcan - Type 26 (2.8-8 GHz) & Type 28 (7.5-14.25 GHz).
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