History
Radar
Radar was one of the most important factors in the RAF's success in the Battle of Britain. It was deployed across the UK as part of an early warning system which detected incoming enemy planes.
Photo: A member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) tracking aircraft via radar in 1944.(British Official Photo/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Features in:
The Battle of Britain
Introduction
Radar
Highlights from BBC programmes Video (5)
play
Trading secrets with America
Trading secrets with America
Andrew Marr lifts the lid on what was called the 'most valuable cargo’ ever to cross the Atlantic, as Churchill desperately sought to draw the United States into the war.
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Fierce fighting over London
The events of the 15th September.
From the Fighter Command control room in Uxbridge, Richard Holmes describes the RAF attacks on incoming German bombers.
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Air to Surface Vessels (ASV) radar
Air to Surface Vessels (ASV) radar.
The Air to Surface Vessels (ASV) radar system is explained to RAF Officers and then fitted to the first long-range squadrons.
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Britain's secret weapon
The importance of radar
The importance of radar during the Battle of Britain.
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Science and Flight: Air Traffic Control
A look at real life applications of science in Northern Ireland.
Find out what's like being an air traffic controller at Belfast International Airport.
More information about: Radar
Radar is an object detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio waves or microwaves which bounce off any object in their path. The object returns a tiny part of the wave's energy to a dish or antenna which is usually located at the same site as the transmitter.
Radar was secretly developed by several nations before and during World War II. The term RADAR was coined in 1940 by the United States Navy as an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging. The term radar has since entered English and other languages as the common noun radar, losing all capitalization.
The modern uses of radar are highly diverse, including air traffic control, radar astronomy, air-defense systems, antimissile systems; marine radars to locate landmarks and other ships; aircraft anticollision systems; ocean surveillance systems, outer space surveillance and rendezvous systems; meteorological precipitation monitoring; altimetry and flight control systems; guided missile target locating systems; and ground-penetrating radar for geological observations. High tech radar systems are associated with digital signal processing and are capable of extracting useful information from very high noise levels.
Other systems similar to radar make use of other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. One example is "lidar", which uses visible light from lasers rather than radio waves.
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Events
Germany bombs British coastal airfields
Germany attacks RAF Fighter Command
Germany bombs London
Who
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Hugh Dowding What
Speeches
The Few Military Tactics
Dogfight Military Technology
Supermarine Spitfire Military Organisations
Luftwaffe 
RAF Fighter Command Where
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RAF Biggin Hill Related programmes
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BROADCAST 2009
Radio 4: Women in the RAF
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play
BROADCAST 2008
Radio 4: WW2 Defences
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play
BROADCAST 2010
World Service: Battle of Britain
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play
BROADCAST 2009
Radio 4: Keith Park
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BROADCAST 2000
Radio 4: Hitler in History
The First World War from Above 
5. The Last Day of World War One 
The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars No radio programmes available
News
Dambusters: From despair to hope
At the beginning of 1942 anything of the...
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