The LGR-1 (Lightweight Ground Radar 1) was used by

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army and ...

from 1948 until 1955 for positioning the planned radar air surveillance system. It is now in the

Flieger-Flab-Museum The Flieger Flab Museum (English: Swiss Air Force Museum) is located in the Canton of Zurich in Dübendorf on the grounds of Dübendorf Air Base. In the museum, 40 airplanes and helicopters are displayed, with the collection divided into distin ...

at Dübendorf.

History

This radar of the first generation of mobile radar systems in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was in the Allied invasion of Normandy in use. In Switzerland, the system was never used in the tactical way. It was used for determining the locations of the first Swiss airspace control system the SRF Airspace monitoring and management system. The LGR-1 radar was tested at various locations, including at the military airfield Dübendorf, at the Bütschelegg above Bern-Belp, at the Weisfluhgipfel (

Weissfluhjoch The Weissfluhjoch () is a summit southeast of the Weissfluh () situated in the Plessur Range in Graubünden. Since 1932, a funicular railway (the Parsennbahn) leads to its summit from Davos. On the Weissflujoch are located several laborat ...

) and at the

Creux du Van The Creux du Van is a natural rocky cirque approximately 1,400 metres wide and 150 metres deep, on the north side of Le Soliat, in the Val de Travers district in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. A very well known, amphitheatre-shaped na ...

. As weatherprotection a wooden hut was built around the LGR-1. The transportable in 10 loads lightweight radar LGR-1 was developed during the Second World War by

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

and

Western Electric The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...

and built by

Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...

in large numbers .

Specifications

*Transmitter: L-band in the frequency range 1220 - 1350 MHz *Peak power: 400 kW *Pulse duration: 0.2 microsecond *Target detection range: 100 km *Power supply: 120 Volt 400 Hz from a gasoline engine.

References

* Alber Wüst: ''Die Schweizerische Fliegerabwehr.'' 2011,

Militärische Denkmäler im Bereich der Luftwaffe (PDF)(German only) {{Air forces in Europe Swiss Air Force Military equipment of Switzerland Ground radars

History

Specifications

See also

References