RadarRadar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (ranging), direction (azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1940 by the United States Navy as an acronym for "radio detection and ranging".
Office of Scientific Research and DevelopmentThe Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May 1941, and it was created formally by Executive Order 8807 on June 28, 1941.Tizard MissionThe Tizard Mission, officially the British Technical and Scientific Mission, was a delegation from the United Kingdom that visited the United States during World War II to share secret research and development (R&D) work that had military applications. It received its popular name from the programme's instigator, Henry Tizard, a British scientist and chairman of the Aeronautical Research Committee, which had orchestrated the development of radar.
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPrivate research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a privateresearch university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1861 to advance "useful knowledge", the university has played a significant role in the development of many areas of technology and science. William Barton Rogers founded MIT to accelerate American industrialization through scientific knowledge.
Project YSecret laboratory established by the Manhattan ProjectThe Los Alamos Laboratory, also known as Project Y, was a secret scientific laboratory established by the Manhattan Project and overseen by the University of California during World War II. It was operated in partnership with the United States Army. Its mission was to design and build the first atomic bombs.
Cavity magnetronThe cavity magnetron is a high-power vacuum tube used in early radar systems and subsequently in microwave ovens and in linear particle accelerators. A cavity magnetron generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field, while moving past a series of cavity resonators, which are small, open cavities in a metal block.
V-1 flying bombGerman World War II cruise missileThe V-1 flying bomb (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1, lit. 'Vengeance Weapon 1') was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was Höllenhund (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and Maikäfer (maybug). The V-1 was the first of the Vergeltungswaffen (V-weapons) deployed for the terror bombing of London.
SCR-584 radarThe SCR-584 (short for Set, Complete, Radio #584) was an automatic-tracking microwave radar developed by the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II. It was one of the most advanced ground-based radars of its era and became one of the primary gun-laying radars used worldwide well into the 1950s. A trailer-mounted mobile version was the SCR-784.
World War IIGlobal conflict from 1939 to 1945BelligerentsAlliesAxisCommanders and leadersMain Allied leaders: Joseph StalinFranklin D. RooseveltWinston ChurchillChiang Kai-shekMain Axis leaders: Adolf HitlerHirohitoBenito MussoliniCasualties and losses 60–75 million deaths (military and civilian) World War II, or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945), was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers.
Strategic bombingStrategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy's war-making capability. It is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theaters of military operations, or both.
H2XH2X, eventually designated as the AN/APS-15, was an American ground scanning radar system used for blind bombing during World War II. It was developed at the MIT Radiation Laboratory under direction of Dr. George E. Valley Jr. as an evolution of the original British H2S radar, the first ground mapping radar to be used in combat. H2X was also known as the "Mickey set" and "BTO" for "bombing through the overcast" radar.
Fire-control radarA fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar that is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and range rate) to a fire-control system in order to direct weapons such that they hit a target. They are sometimes known as narrow beam radars, targeting radars, tracking radars, or in the UK, gun-laying radars. If the radar is used to guide a missile, it is often known as a target illuminator or illuminator radar.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.