Searchwater was a maritime surveillance

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

developed by

Thorn EMI Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comi ...

under project P1149. This type of radar has been in service with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Hawker Siddeley Nimrod The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod is a retired maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated by the United Kingdom. It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first operational jet airliner. It was originally designed ...

aboard the MR2 variant since the 1970s. The retirement of the Royal Navy's fleet carriers in 1978 meant that the

airborne early warning Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

(AEW) capable

Fairey Gannet The Fairey Gannet is a carrier-borne aircraft that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed for the Royal Navy, being the first fixed-wing aircraft to combine both the search an ...

was also withdrawn from service. During the Falklands War, a number of warships were lost due to the lack of an indigenous AEW presence. Consequently, a greatly accelerated project was started to equip

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

helicopters with a slightly modified version of the system known as Searchwater LAST (Low Altitude Surveillance Task). The radome was mounted in a distinctive inverted cupola on a swivel arm attached to the right side of the fuselage just aft of the main door.Westland Sea King AEW2 and ASaC.7
/ref> This arm allowed the helicopter to lower the radar below the fuselage in flight and to raise it for landing. Searchwater was retired from service when the last of the Royal Navy's airborne early warning Sea King helicopters were taken out of service in 2018. The Searchwater system was subsequently replaced in the Royal Navy by the new Crowsnest system. Searchwater radar was developed by the

Royal Signals and Radar Establishment The Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) was a scientific research establishment within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Kingdom. It was located primarily at Malvern in Worcestershire, England. The RSRE motto was ''Ubique ...

and

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

(later

Thorn Sensors Group Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comic ...

Racal Radar Defence Systems Racal Electronics plc was a British electronics company that was founded in 1950. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, Racal was a diversified company, offering products including voice loggers an ...

acquired Searchwater in 1995. Thorn and Racal merged to form Racal-Thorn Defence.

Variants

*Searchwater: the first model of the family, basic anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare (ASW/AsuW) radar without air-to-air capability, installed on board

MR2 ASW aircraft. *Searchwater AEW: Also known as Searchwater LAST (Low Altitude Surveillance Task), the AEW version for helicopters as a lesson learned from the Falklands War. *Skymaster: Development of Searchwater AEW/LAST, combining the air-to-surface capability of the original Searchwater and the air-to-air capability of Searchwater AEW/LAST. Developed as the radar for Argus-2000 AEW&C system to be installed on British Aerospace Nimrod AEW3. which was eventually cancelled. However, 6 complete Argus-2000 AEW&C systems plus two more Skymaster radar as spares were purchased by China in 1997 for 66 million US dollars. The experienced gained from Skymaster/Argus-2000 program despite its eventual cancellation has been used in the modernization of other models of Searchwater radars. *Searchwater 2000: Upgrade package of Searchwater series including the integration of

Link 11 TADIL-A/Link 11 is a secure half-duplex tactical data link used by NATO to exchange digital data. It was originally developed by a joint committee including members from the Canadian Navy, US Navy and Royal Navy to pass accurate targeting inform ...

and

Link 16 Link 16 is a military tactical data link network used by NATO and nations allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO). Its specification is part of the family of Tactical Data Links. With Link 16, military aircraft as well as ship ...

, faster computers and advanced operator console with coloured display. Installed on Sea King Mk 7 and successfully deployed in Afghanistan with over a thousand missions performed. *Searchwater 2000 AEW: latest AEW model of Searchwater radars developed from Skymaster and Searchwater 2000, with the incorporation of moving target indication (MTI), compatibility with

Link 22 Link 22 is a secure digital radio link in the HF and UHF bands, primarily used by military forces as a tactical data link. History During the late 1980s, NATO, agreeing on the need to improve the performance of Link 11, produced a mission need ...

, and improved capability in littoral water. *Searchwater 2000 MR: Intended for the cancelled

BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 The BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 was a planned maritime patrol and attack aircraft intended to replace the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2. The rebuilt aircraft would have extended the operating life of the Nimrod fleet by several decades and signific ...

; it has

synthetic aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...

and

inverse synthetic aperture radar Inverse synthetic-aperture radar (ISAR) is a radar technique using radar imaging to generate a two-dimensional high resolution image of a target. It is analogous to conventional SAR, except that ISAR technology uses the movement of the target rath ...

modes. *Searchwater ASaC: Latest member of Searchwater radar family with ground moving target indication capability added, specifically designed for AEW&C applications over land and sea.Searchwater ASaC
/ref>

References

Aircraft radars Military radars of the United Kingdom Military equipment introduced in the 1970s

Variants

See also

References