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Radar picket

A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from criminal activities such as smuggling. By definition a radar picket must be some distance removed from the anticipated targets to be capable of providing early warning. Often several detached radar units would be placed in a ring to encircle a target to provide increased cover in all directions; another approach is to position units to form a barrier line.

Former radar station at Point Lay, Alaska.
USS Triton (SSRN-586)
Grumman E-1 Tracer

Radar picket units may also be equipped to direct friendly aircraft to intercept any possible enemy. In British terminology the radar picket function is called aircraft direction. A ship performing this function is termed a fighter direction ship. Airborne radar pickets are generally referred to as Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) or simply airborne early warning (AEW).

In a sense radars intended to track ballistic missiles can be thought of as radar pickets, but because such systems are also used for tracking orbital satellites and space debris the preferred term for them is space domain awareness systems.

World War II edit

United Kingdom World War II radar pickets edit

UK coastal radar edit

Chain Home or CH was the codename for the ring of coastal early warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during World War II to detect and track aircraft. Chain Home proved decisive during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The Chain Home network was continually expanded, with over 40 stations operational by the war's end. CH was not able to detect aircraft at low altitude, and from 1939 was normally partnered with the Chain Home Low system which could detect aircraft flying at any altitude over 500 ft (150 m). Ports were covered by Chain Home Extra Low, which gave cover down to 50 ft (15 m) but at shorter ranges of approximately 30 miles (50 km). In 1942 the AMES Type 7 radar began to assume the job of tracking of targets once detected, and CH moved entirely to the early warning role.[1]

UK World War II AEW&C edit

In late 1944 the Fighter Interception Development Squadron carried out operational trials under Operation Vapour of a Vickers Wellington which was equipped with a modified ASV Mk VI radar set and PPI, as one of the first Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft.[2] It operated at an altitude of 4,000 feet over the North Sea to control de Havilland Mosquito night fighters intercepting Heinkel He 111 bombers flying from Dutch airbases to launch V-1 flying bombs. The Wellington was fitted with a homing beacon so the night fighters could locate and keep station with it. Despite encouraging results, the operational trials ended after the Luftwaffe stopped air launches by mid January 1945.

German World War II radar pickets edit

Kammhuber Line edit

 
A map of part of the Kammhuber Line stolen by a Belgian agent and passed-on to the British in 1942. The 'belt' and nightfighter 'boxes' are shown

The Kammhuber Line was the Allied name given to the German night air defense system established in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber. The first version of the Line consisted of a series of 'boxes' of radar stations with overlapping coverage, layered three deep from Denmark to the middle of France, each covering a zone about 32 km long (north-south) and 20 km wide (east-west). Each station consisted of a control center with a FuMG A1 Freya radar with a range of about 100 km and a directed searchlight for the night fighters. Later versions of the Line added two Würzburg-Riese radars, with a range of about 30 km. Unlike the early-warning Freya, Würzburgs were accurate (and complex) tracking radars. One Würzburg would lock onto the target as soon as the Freya picked it up, and the second Würzburg would lock onto the night fighter as soon as it entered the box, thereby allowing controllers to get continual readings of the positions of both planes.[3]

The Line was very effective against early RAF Bomber Command tactics. However, on the night of 30/31 May 1942 in its 1,000 plane raid against Cologne, Bomber Command introduced the use of the bomber stream. The concentration of bombers through a few of the boxes resulted in the defenses being overwhelmed. In response, the Germans converted their ground radar into a radar network, which would follow the path of the British bombers, while a controller directed the night fighters into the stream. Measure and counter measure continued until October 1944, when German defenses were no longer able to respond to Germany's deteriorating situation.[3]

Kriegsmarine edit

From 1943 Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine operated several radar-equipped night fighter guide ships (Nachtjagdleitschiffe), including the NJL Togo. which was equipped with a Freya radar for early warning and a Würzburg-Riese gun laying radar, plus night fighter communications equipment. From October 1943, Togo cruised the Baltic Sea under the operational control of the Luftwaffe. In March 1944, after the three great Soviet bombing raids on Helsinki, she arrived in the Gulf of Finland to provide night fighter cover for Tallinn and Helsinki.

Japanese World War II radar pickets edit

The Imperial Japanese Navy briefly modified two Ha-101-class submarines (Ha-103 and Ha-105) as dedicated radar pickets in the first half of 1945, but reconverted them to an even more important role as tanker submarines in June of that year.

US Navy World War II radar pickets edit

Radar picket ships first came into being in the US Navy during World War II to aid in the Allied advance to Japan. The number of radar pickets was increased significantly after the first major employment of kamikaze aircraft by the Japanese in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. Fletcher-class and Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers with SGA and SC radars were pressed into picket service with few modifications at first – the Allen M. Sumners were the first destroyers to be designed with a combat information center (CIC), which made them ideal for this use.[4] Later, additional radars and fighter direction equipment were fitted, along with more light anti-aircraft (AA) guns for self-defense, usually sacrificing torpedo tubes to make room for the new equipment, particularly the large SP height-finding radars of the era. Deploying some distance from the force to be protected along likely directions of attack, radar pickets were the nearest ships to the Japanese airfields. Thus, they were usually the first vessels seen by incoming waves of kamikazes, and were often heavily attacked.[5]

 
USS Goodrich (DDR-831) underway in 1950s radar picket configuration.

The radar picket system saw its ultimate development in World War II in the Battle of Okinawa. A ring of 15 radar picket stations was established around Okinawa to cover all possible approaches to the island and the attacking fleet. Initially, a typical picket station had one or two destroyers supported by two landing ships, usually landing craft support (large) (LCS(L)) or landing ship medium (rocket) (LSM(R)), for additional AA firepower. Eventually, the number of destroyers and supporting ships were doubled at the most threatened stations, and combat air patrols were provided as well. In early 1945, 26 new construction Gearing-class destroyers were ordered as radar pickets without torpedo tubes, to allow for extra radar and AA equipment, but only some of these were ready in time to serve off Okinawa. Seven destroyer escorts were also completed as radar pickets.

The radar picket mission was vital, but it was also costly to the ships performing it. Out of 101 destroyers assigned to radar picket stations, 10 were sunk and 32 were damaged by kamikaze attacks. The 88 LCS(L)s assigned to picket stations had two sunk and 11 damaged by kamikazes, while the 11 LSM(R)s had three sunk and two damaged.[6][7]

The high casualties off Okinawa gave rise to the radar picket submarine, which had the option of diving when under attack. It was planned to employ converted radar picket submarines should the invasion of Japan become necessary. Two submarines (Grouper and Finback) received rudimentary conversions during the war with the new SR search radars and the SV search radars mounted vertically as height finders,[8] and two others (Threadfin and Remora) were completed immediately after the war with the same suite, but none were used postwar in this role.[9]

Cold War edit

United States and Canada edit

 
A rough map of the three warning lines. From north to south: the DEW Line, Mid-Canada Line, and Pinetree Line. Off the coasts are the aircraft and ships representing the ocean barrier lines, and a 'Texas Tower'.

During the Cold War, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Air Force jointly built and operated radar picket stations to detect Soviet bombers, and the United States Navy expanded the naval radar picket concept. The wartime radar picket destroyers (DDR) were retained, and additional DDRs, destroyer escorts (DER), submarines (SSR, SSRN), and auxiliaries (AGR) were converted and built in the years 1946–1959. The naval concepts were: 1) every carrier group would have radar pickets deployed around it for early warning of the increasing threat of Soviet air-to-surface missile attack, and 2) radar pickets would form barriers off the North American coasts, thus extending the land based lines. While on station, all of these assets – other than those assigned to fleet defense – were operationally controlled by the Aerospace Defense Command and after May 1958 NORAD.

Fixed installations edit

 
Texas Tower 3

During the 1950s the governments of Canada, Denmark, and the United States built three lines of fixed radar picket sites across Canada, and with the DEW Line into Alaska and Greenland. These were the Pinetree Line (1951), the Mid-Canada Line (1956), and the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line (1957). The DEW Line would be equipped with AN/FPS-19, and until 1965 AN/FPS-23 radars. There was also a line of radar sites in Alaska extending westward from the end of the DEW Line to the end of the Aleutian Islands, and a line eastward from the Greenland end of the DEW Line to Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Scotland.

There were also three oil-rig-type offshore radar stations known as "Texas Towers" off the New England coast with AN/FPS-3 (later AN/FPS-20) and AN/FPS-6 radars.

Command cruiser Northampton edit

 
USS Northampton (CLC-1)

When the first supercarrier United States was being designed in 1946, it was thought she would not be able to have an island or masts for radar or other antennas. Therefore, it was decided that a command ship was needed to escort the carrier and act not only in part as a radar picket (although from the center of the task force rather than the periphery as a true picket would), but also as the radar director of aircraft approach and landing on the carrier. The unfinished heavy cruiser Northampton was converted under project SCB 13 into a command cruiser for this and other fleet command roles, with AN/SPS-2 (one of only two ships with this huge installation), AN/SPS-3, and AN/SPS-8 radars. The subsequent invention of the angled flight deck made it possible to install islands and radar on supercarriers, and so this role was eliminated from the Northampton conversion.[10]

Converted and purpose-built submarines edit

 
USS Tigrone (SSR-419) in Migraine II radar picket configuration

The U.S. Navy continued to develop radar picket submarines (SSRs) after World War II under Project Migraine, and by 1953, a total of 10 new SSR conversions had been performed with SR-2 and SV-2 radars:

  • Migraine I: in 1946 submarine radar picket conversions were performed on Spinax and Requin; these were more extensive than the rudimentary conversions made a year earlier for the planned invasion of Japan. The radar equipment of these diesel submarines took the place of torpedoes in the stern torpedo rooms. The radar antennas were mounted directly on the hull above the equipment, where they suffered spray damage.[8]
  • Migraine II (aka project SCB 12) involved raising the antennas off the hull onto masts, moving the equipment to the aft battery room (higher capacity GUPPY batteries were installed forward to compensate), and adding topside fathometers to give a limited under-ice capability. The aft torpedo tubes were removed and the compartment used for berthing and storage. Burrfish and Tigrone were converted, and the two Migraine I submarines were also upgraded to this standard.[11]
  • Migraine III (aka SCB 12A) had the most extensive conversion with an added 27.5-foot (8.4 m) compartment for an expanded CIC. The search antenna was moved to an enlarged sail located over the new compartment. Converted were Pompon, Rasher, Raton, Ray, Redfin, and Rock.[12]
 
USS Sailfish (SSR-572)

In 1956 two large, purpose-built diesel SSRs, the Sailfish class, were commissioned. These were designed under project SCB 84 for a high surface speed with the intent of scouting in advance of carrier groups, and were equipped with large BPS-2 and BPS-3 radars. However, the SSRs did not fare well in this mission. Their maximum surfaced speed of 21 knots was too slow to effectively operate with a carrier group, although it was sufficient for amphibious group operations.[13]

It was thought that nuclear power would solve this problem. The largest, most capable, and most expensive radar picket submarine was the nuclear-powered USS Triton (SSRN-586), designed under project SCB 132 and commissioned in 1959 with the AN/SPS-26 radar (an electronically scanned radar fully adapted for submarine use and intended for Triton, BPS-10, was never completed). The longest submarine built by the United States until the Ohio class Trident missile submarines of the 1980s, Triton's two reactors - the only US submarine so powered - allowed her to exceed 30 knots on the surface.[14][15]

List of radar picket submarines[15]

Destroyer escort conversions edit

 
An Atlantic barrier Lockheed WV-2 Warning Star (later EC-121) and the radar picket destroyer escort USS Sellstrom (DER-255) off Newfoundland in 1957.

The 26 wartime Gearing-class DDRs were supplemented by nine additional conversions during the early 1950s. The seven wartime DERs were not considered worth modernizing and were relegated to secondary roles, so 36 additional DER conversions were performed in 1951 through 1958:

  • Six diesel-powered Edsall-class DEs were converted into DERs in 1951 and 1952 under project SCB 46: converted were Fessenden, Harveson, Joyce, Kirkpatrick, Otterstetter, and Strickland.[16]
  • Two DEs which were unfinished at the end of World War II, Vandivier and Wagner, were completed as DERs in 1954 under SCB 46A. As John C. Butler-class DEs they had steam powerplants and so lacked the endurance of their diesel half sisters. This was an experiment intended to validate the conversion should the design be required for any future mobilization. These two ships would be the first DERs to be retired, in 1960.[17]
  • Another 28 Edsall-class DEs would be converted into DERs from 1954 through 1957 under SCB 46B.[18]

The DERs were used in 1955–1965 to form two Barrier Forces known as BarLant and BarPac, which extended the DEW Line from Argentia, Newfoundland to the Azores in the Atlantic, and from Adak, Alaska to Midway in the Pacific.[19]

Converted merchant ships edit

 
USS Tracer (AGR-15), an ocean radar picket ship

From 1955 to 1965 the United States Navy employed Guardian class radar picket ships (converted under project SCB 126 from the former boxed aircraft transport version of the Liberty ship) to create barrier lines off the East and West Coasts. They were equipped with AN/SPS-8 (later AN/SPS-30 on some ships), AN/SPS-12, and AN/SPS-17 radars (the last was specially designed for these ships). Eight were homeported at Treasure Island, California and eight at Davisville, Rhode Island. The hull classification symbol of the ships was initially YAGR, changed to AGR in 1958 (this change moved the ships from the naval yard and district craft category to the naval auxiliary category). The standard crew consisted of 13 officers, 8 chief petty officers, and 125 enlisted.[20]

Picket stations were about 400–500 miles (640–800 km) off each coast and provided an overlapping radar or electronic barrier against approaching aircraft. Typical station duty was about 30–45 days out and 15 days in port. While on station, each ship stayed within a specific radius of its assigned picket station, reporting and tracking all aircraft contacts. Each ship carried qualified air controllers to direct intercept aircraft sent out to engage contacts. While on station additional duties such as search and rescue, weather reporting, fishery studies, and other miscellaneous duties were assigned.

Replacement by aircraft edit

 
Grumman TBM-3W Avenger
 
Sikorsky HR2S-1W early warning helicopter

The U.S. Navy began to develop airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft in the last years of World War II under Project Cadillac. The first U.S. AEW aircraft were the 1945 carrier based Grumman TBM-3W Avenger under Project Cadillac I, followed by the 1948 Douglas AD-3W, −4W, and −5W Skyraider and the 1950 Grumman AF-2W Guardian (not to be confused with the AGR ships of the same name); though the Skyraiders and Guardians were built in large numbers, none were very successful as they were too small to function as a full CIC, and all were used more often in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role. All of these aircraft used the AN/APS-20 radar. While the 1957 carrier-compatible Sikorsky HR2S-1W helicopter with the AN/APS-20E or AN/APS-32 radar (sources differ) had room for a full CIC it also failed, largely due to excessive vibration, slow speed, and cost.[21]

Another 1945 development was the land based Boeing PB-1W, a naval B-17 variant modified under Project Cadillac II to carry the AN/APS-20 radar and a full CIC; this aircraft entered service too late for combat but was used for further development of the AEW concept.[22]

Far more successful was the land based Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star, which was introduced in 1954 in both Air Force and Navy service as pickets and in other roles with the AN/APS-20 and AN/APS-45 radars, respectively under and atop the aircraft. As pickets the Air Force EC-121s provided radar coverage by flying "Contiguous Barrier" orbits 300 miles offshore, between the coasts and the AGR Guardian picket lines. The Navy version (designated PO-1W, then WV-1, −2, and −3 before 1962) flew over the more distant BarLant and BarPac DER lines. They would later be re-equipped with AN/APS-95 and AN/APS-103 radars. Their main deficiency was lack of endurance, which made them unsuitable for naval fleet coverage.

 
Goodyear ZPG-3W

Perhaps the most successful airborne radar pickets were the nine Goodyear ZPG-2W and ZPG-3W blimps: the −2W blimps were equipped with the AN/APS-20 and AN/APS-69 radars in an arrangement similar to the EC-121s, while the −3W blimps (the largest ever built) had the large AN/APS-70 radar placed inside their gas envelopes. Starting in 1955 they successfully combined airborne early warning radar surveillance and long endurance in all possible roles, but they were fragile, expensive, and too slow to quickly reach stations far from base (their overhead costs increased after the ASW blimps became technically obsolete due to the introduction of higher performance nuclear submarines). They were retired in 1962.[23]

The introduction of the Grumman WF-2 Tracer (later the E-1 Tracer) carrier-based airborne early warning aircraft in 1958 with the AN/APS-82 radar followed by the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye with the AN/APS-120 radar in 1964 doomed the surface and submarine radar pickets as carrier escorts (later E-2 models would see the APS-120 replaced in succession with the APS-125, −139, −145, and AN/APY-9 radar). Airborne radar had now evolved to the point where it could warn of an incoming attack more efficiently than a surface ship. In 1961 the DDRs and SSRs were withdrawn. All but six DDRs received ASW conversions under the FRAM I and FRAM II programs and were redesignated as DDs; the remaining six were somewhat modernized under FRAM II and retained in the DDR role. The SSRs were converted to other roles (the Sailfish class was converted to an attack submarine design under project SCB 242), or scrapped. Triton was left without a mission. She was too large to function as an attack submarine; some alternatives were considered, including serving as an underwater national command post, but she eventually became the first US nuclear submarine to be decommissioned, in 1969.[24][25][15]

Replacement by OTH radar edit

By 1965, the development of over-the-horizon radar (OTH) made the barrier forces obsolete, and the DERs and the AGR Guardians were retired. The EC-121s would be allocated to other roles. OTH radar also played a small part in the retirement of the obsolete Pinetree Line, Mid-Canada Line, and the AN/FPS-23 radars of the DEW Line.

PIRAZ during Vietnam edit

The final use of the radar picket concept by the US Navy was in the Vietnam War. The Gulf of Tonkin Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone (PIRAZ) guided missile cruisers (and destroyer leaders aka frigates which would later be redesignated as cruisers in 1975) provided significant air control and air defense in that war.[26]

United Kingdom edit

British aircraft direction ships edit

 
HMS Battleaxe (D118), a Weapon-class destroyer, after aircraft direction conversion
 
HMS Lincoln (F99), a Salisbury-class frigate, in 1972

The British Royal Navy constructed or converted two types of dedicated aircraft direction ships in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Four World War II Battle-class destroyers and four Weapon-class destroyers were converted 1959–1962 as Fast Air Detection Escorts to accompany fast carrier groups. Also, four Type 61 Salisbury-class frigates were commissioned 1957–1960 to accompany slow carrier or amphibious groups. However, the aircraft direction function was short-lived. With the mid-1960s decision to phase out the fast carriers, the Battle-class ships were placed in reserve 1966–1968 and were scrapped or converted to non-combat roles by 1974. The Salisbury class were relegated to non-combat roles or sold by the end of 1978.

Soviet Union edit

Soviet radar picket ships edit

Twenty T43-class minesweepers were converted to Project 254 KVN-50-class radar picket ships between 1955 and 1959. Modifications involved replacing the aft gun turret with a Pegmantit 8 (NATO reporting name: "Knife Rest-A") or MP-500 radar (NATO: "Big Net") radar. Most were retired during the 1970s or relegated to training duties, with the last withdrawn in 1987.[27]

14 further T43-class minesweepers were converted to Project 258 KVN-6-class radar picket ships between 1973 and 1977 with Kaktus radars. Some were later modified to Project 258M ships with Rubka (NATO: "Strut Curve") radars.[27]

Three T58-class minesweepers were converted to radar picket ships between 1975 and 1977 by replacing the aft 57 mm gun turret with a Pegmantit 10 (NATO: "Knife Rest-B") radar.[28]: 198 

Three other projects were cancelled before conversions were made.

  • Project 959 – further conversions the T58-class minesweeper with upgraded radar
  • Project 962 – a fourth cruiser type following on from the Kresta I, Kresta II and Kara designs[29]
  • Project 996 - conversion of a Sovremennyy-class destroyer

Soviet radar picket submarines edit

Four Project 640 submarines were converted as radar picket boats between 1959 and 1963 by fitting Project 613 submarines with "Boat Sail" radar in an enlarged conning tower. These were known to NATO as "Whiskey Canvas Bag" submarines from the canvas coverings often put over the radar when NATO aircraft approached. While the US radar picket submarines were intended for fleet defense, the Project 640 boats were intended to provide warning of air attacks on Soviet coastal territory.[30][28]: 119 

Soviet AEW edit

 
Tupolev Tu-126

In 1958 the Soviet Union began development of an aircraft intended to act as an airborne early warning (AEW) radar picket in the far north along the Arctic coast, so that the expense of land stations could be avoided. The result, the Tupolev Tu-126 (NATO: "Moss"), entered service in 1965, but the Liana (NATO: "Flat Jack") radar was ineffective in tracking low flying targets over land, and suffered from reflections from the aircraft's propellers.[31]

The Beriev A-50 "Mainstay" replaced the Tu-126. It first flew in 1978.[32]

In 1979 the development of the Yakovlev Yak-44 was begun; this aircraft would have performed the AEW role aboard later Soviet aircraft carriers. It was similar in layout to the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, and it would have carried a NPO Vega pulse-doppler radar in a rotodome. The project was cancelled in 1993.[33]

Late and post-Cold War edit

Airborne early warning and control systems edit

 
A Royal Air Force E-3 Sentry over North Yorkshire.

Airborne early warning and control systems (AEW&C, aka AWACS in the U.S.) were developed to replace the AEW radar pickets of the 1960s. These aircraft have capabilities far beyond their predecessors. They can perform complex command and control of a battlespace in air engagements by directing fighter and attack aircraft strikes. AEW&C units are also used to carry out surveillance, including over ground targets and frequently perform BMC2 (battle management command and control) functions. They are still capable of performing radar picket duties, though they are seldom used in this role.[34]

Tethered aerostats edit

 
Tethered Aerostat Radar System

Beginning in 1980 the United States installed a barrier line of tethered aerostats to detect low flying aircraft over Cuba and the U.S.-Mexican border, known as the Tethered Aerostat Radar System.[35]

Israel developed a similar system, the EL/M-2083, which it sold to India and Singapore.[36]

A similar system, JLENS, was developed starting in 1998 by the United States for tracking cruise missiles and other threats, but was cancelled in 2017.[37]

Long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) edit

Proposals have been made to install similar radars on long-endurance UAVs, although there are conflicts between radar power requirements and UAV endurance.

See also edit

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ "The prototype CH system – 1939… Chain, Home… Operational". Bournemouth University. 1995–2009. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  2. ^ Jackson, Robert (2007). Britain's Greatest Aircraft. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-84415-383-1.
  3. ^ a b Bowman 2016, p. 144.
  4. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, pp. 126, 176
  5. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, pp. 202–206
  6. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, pp. 202–210, 230–233
  7. ^ Review by William Gordon of Rielly, Robin L. "Kamikazes, Corsairs, and Picket Ships: Okinawa, 1945", Casemate Publishing, 2008 ISBN 1-93203-386-6.
  8. ^ a b Friedman, Submarines, pp. 90
  9. ^ Friedman, Submarines, pp. 253
  10. ^ Freidman, Cruisers pp. 340
  11. ^ Friedman, Submarines, pp. 91–93
  12. ^ Friedman, Submarines, pp. 91–94, 96–97
  13. ^ Friedman, Submarines, pp. 94–95
  14. ^ Friedman, Submarines, pp. 94–98
  15. ^ a b c Whitman, Edward C. (Winter–Spring 2002). . Undersea Warfare. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2014., Issue 14
  16. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, pp 230–231
  17. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, pp 231–232
  18. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, p 232
  19. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, pp. 231–233
  20. ^ YAGR Website Ship List
  21. ^ "S-56/HR2S-1/H-37 Helicopter". sikorskyarchives. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  22. ^ Polmar, Norman (April 2023). "A Bomber Without Bombs". Naval History Magazine. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  23. ^ Sky Ships: A History of the Airship in the United States Navy, Althoff, W.F., Pacifica Press, c1991, ISBN 0-935553-32-0
  24. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, pp. 231–233
  25. ^ Friedman, Submarines, pp. 96, 98
  26. ^ Friedman, Destroyers, p. 227
  27. ^ a b Jane's Weapon Systems 1988– 1989. Jane's Information Group. 1987. p. 618. ISBN 9780710608550.
  28. ^ a b Norman Polmar (1983). Guide to the Soviet navy. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870212397.
  29. ^ Edward Hampshire (2017). Soviet Cold War Guided Missile Cruisers. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 978-1472817426.
  30. ^ Norman Polmar and Kenneth J. Moore (2004). Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines. Potomac Books. p. 27. ISBN 1574885944.
  31. ^ Duffy and Kandalov, Tupolev, p136"
  32. ^ "Beriev A-50 Mainstay." Spyflight.co.uk. Retrieved: 27 October 2011.
  33. ^ Gordon, Komissarov and Komissarov 2005, p. 347.
  34. ^ Neufeld 1997, p. 276.
  35. ^ Tethered Aerostat Radar System
  36. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2021-09-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  37. ^ JLENS Supporters: Never Mind the Blimp, Save the Radar – Defenseone.com, 5 December 2015

Sources edit

  • Battle Experience: Radar Pickets and Methods of Combating Suicide Attacks off Okinawa, 20 July 1945.
  • Bowman, Martin (2016). Nachtjagd, Defenders of the Reich 1940–1943. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-4986-0.
  • Duffy, Paul and Kandalov, Andrei. Tupolev: The Man and His Aircraft. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 1996. ISBN 1-85310-728-X.
  • Friedman, Norman (2004). US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised ed.). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-442-3.
  • Friedman, Norman (1994). U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 1-55750-260-9.
  • Friedman, Norman (1984), U.S. Cruisers: an illustrated design history, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-718-6, OCLC 10949320
  • Gordon, Yefim; Komissarov, Dmitry; Komissarov, Sergey (2005). OKB Yakovlev: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-203-9.
  • Neufeld, Jacob; Watson Jr., George M.; Chenoweth, David (1997). Technology and the Air Force. A Retrospective Assessment. Washington, D.C.: United States Air Force. pp. 267–287. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA440094&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf 2012-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
  • GUPPY, SSR, and other diesel boat conversions page
  • Review by William Gordon of Rielly, Robin L. Kamikazes, Corsairs, and Picket Ships: Okinawa, 1945, Casemate Publishing, 2008 ISBN 1-93203-386-6.
  • Whitman, Edward C. "Cold War Curiosities: U.S. Radar Picket Submarines", Undersea Warfare, Winter-Spring 2002, Issue 14 2012-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
  • YAGR Website Ship List

External links edit

  • Guarding the Cold War Ramparts: The U.S. Navy’s Role in Continental Air Defense, Federation of American Scientists, reprinted from the Naval War College Review, Summer 1999

radar, picket, radar, picket, radar, equipped, station, ship, submarine, aircraft, vehicle, used, increase, radar, detection, range, around, nation, military, including, naval, force, protect, from, surprise, attack, typically, attack, from, criminal, activiti. A radar picket is a radar equipped station ship submarine aircraft or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military including naval force to protect it from surprise attack typically air attack or from criminal activities such as smuggling By definition a radar picket must be some distance removed from the anticipated targets to be capable of providing early warning Often several detached radar units would be placed in a ring to encircle a target to provide increased cover in all directions another approach is to position units to form a barrier line Former radar station at Point Lay Alaska USS Triton SSRN 586 Grumman E 1 TracerRadar picket units may also be equipped to direct friendly aircraft to intercept any possible enemy In British terminology the radar picket function is called aircraft direction A ship performing this function is termed a fighter direction ship Airborne radar pickets are generally referred to as Airborne early warning and control AEW amp C or simply airborne early warning AEW In a sense radars intended to track ballistic missiles can be thought of as radar pickets but because such systems are also used for tracking orbital satellites and space debris the preferred term for them is space domain awareness systems Contents 1 World War II 1 1 United Kingdom World War II radar pickets 1 1 1 UK coastal radar 1 1 2 UK World War II AEW amp C 1 2 German World War II radar pickets 1 2 1 Kammhuber Line 1 2 2 Kriegsmarine 1 3 Japanese World War II radar pickets 1 4 US Navy World War II radar pickets 2 Cold War 2 1 United States and Canada 2 1 1 Fixed installations 2 1 2 Command cruiser Northampton 2 1 3 Converted and purpose built submarines 2 1 4 Destroyer escort conversions 2 1 5 Converted merchant ships 2 1 6 Replacement by aircraft 2 1 7 Replacement by OTH radar 2 1 8 PIRAZ during Vietnam 2 2 United Kingdom 2 2 1 British aircraft direction ships 2 3 Soviet Union 2 3 1 Soviet radar picket ships 2 3 2 Soviet radar picket submarines 2 3 3 Soviet AEW 3 Late and post Cold War 3 1 Airborne early warning and control systems 3 2 Tethered aerostats 3 3 Long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs 4 See also 5 References 5 1 Notes 5 2 Sources 6 External linksWorld War II editUnited Kingdom World War II radar pickets edit UK coastal radar edit Chain Home or CH was the codename for the ring of coastal early warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force RAF before and during World War II to detect and track aircraft Chain Home proved decisive during the Battle of Britain in 1940 The Chain Home network was continually expanded with over 40 stations operational by the war s end CH was not able to detect aircraft at low altitude and from 1939 was normally partnered with the Chain Home Low system which could detect aircraft flying at any altitude over 500 ft 150 m Ports were covered by Chain Home Extra Low which gave cover down to 50 ft 15 m but at shorter ranges of approximately 30 miles 50 km In 1942 the AMES Type 7 radar began to assume the job of tracking of targets once detected and CH moved entirely to the early warning role 1 UK World War II AEW amp C edit In late 1944 the Fighter Interception Development Squadron carried out operational trials under Operation Vapour of a Vickers Wellington which was equipped with a modified ASV Mk VI radar set and PPI as one of the first Airborne Early Warning and Control AEW amp C aircraft 2 It operated at an altitude of 4 000 feet over the North Sea to control de Havilland Mosquito night fighters intercepting Heinkel He 111 bombers flying from Dutch airbases to launch V 1 flying bombs The Wellington was fitted with a homing beacon so the night fighters could locate and keep station with it Despite encouraging results the operational trials ended after the Luftwaffe stopped air launches by mid January 1945 German World War II radar pickets edit Kammhuber Line edit nbsp A map of part of the Kammhuber Line stolen by a Belgian agent and passed on to the British in 1942 The belt and nightfighter boxes are shownThe Kammhuber Line was the Allied name given to the German night air defense system established in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber The first version of the Line consisted of a series of boxes of radar stations with overlapping coverage layered three deep from Denmark to the middle of France each covering a zone about 32 km long north south and 20 km wide east west Each station consisted of a control center with a FuMG A1 Freya radar with a range of about 100 km and a directed searchlight for the night fighters Later versions of the Line added two Wurzburg Riese radars with a range of about 30 km Unlike the early warning Freya Wurzburgs were accurate and complex tracking radars One Wurzburg would lock onto the target as soon as the Freya picked it up and the second Wurzburg would lock onto the night fighter as soon as it entered the box thereby allowing controllers to get continual readings of the positions of both planes 3 The Line was very effective against early RAF Bomber Command tactics However on the night of 30 31 May 1942 in its 1 000 plane raid against Cologne Bomber Command introduced the use of the bomber stream The concentration of bombers through a few of the boxes resulted in the defenses being overwhelmed In response the Germans converted their ground radar into a radar network which would follow the path of the British bombers while a controller directed the night fighters into the stream Measure and counter measure continued until October 1944 when German defenses were no longer able to respond to Germany s deteriorating situation 3 Kriegsmarine edit From 1943 Nazi Germany s Kriegsmarine operated several radar equipped night fighter guide ships Nachtjagdleitschiffe including the NJL Togo which was equipped with a Freya radar for early warning and a Wurzburg Riese gun laying radar plus night fighter communications equipment From October 1943 Togo cruised the Baltic Sea under the operational control of the Luftwaffe In March 1944 after the three great Soviet bombing raids on Helsinki she arrived in the Gulf of Finland to provide night fighter cover for Tallinn and Helsinki Japanese World War II radar pickets edit The Imperial Japanese Navy briefly modified two Ha 101 class submarines Ha 103 and Ha 105 as dedicated radar pickets in the first half of 1945 but reconverted them to an even more important role as tanker submarines in June of that year US Navy World War II radar pickets edit Radar picket ships first came into being in the US Navy during World War II to aid in the Allied advance to Japan The number of radar pickets was increased significantly after the first major employment of kamikaze aircraft by the Japanese in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 Fletcher class and Allen M Sumner class destroyers with SGA and SC radars were pressed into picket service with few modifications at first the Allen M Sumners were the first destroyers to be designed with a combat information center CIC which made them ideal for this use 4 Later additional radars and fighter direction equipment were fitted along with more light anti aircraft AA guns for self defense usually sacrificing torpedo tubes to make room for the new equipment particularly the large SP height finding radars of the era Deploying some distance from the force to be protected along likely directions of attack radar pickets were the nearest ships to the Japanese airfields Thus they were usually the first vessels seen by incoming waves of kamikazes and were often heavily attacked 5 nbsp USS Goodrich DDR 831 underway in 1950s radar picket configuration The radar picket system saw its ultimate development in World War II in the Battle of Okinawa A ring of 15 radar picket stations was established around Okinawa to cover all possible approaches to the island and the attacking fleet Initially a typical picket station had one or two destroyers supported by two landing ships usually landing craft support large LCS L or landing ship medium rocket LSM R for additional AA firepower Eventually the number of destroyers and supporting ships were doubled at the most threatened stations and combat air patrols were provided as well In early 1945 26 new construction Gearing class destroyers were ordered as radar pickets without torpedo tubes to allow for extra radar and AA equipment but only some of these were ready in time to serve off Okinawa Seven destroyer escorts were also completed as radar pickets The radar picket mission was vital but it was also costly to the ships performing it Out of 101 destroyers assigned to radar picket stations 10 were sunk and 32 were damaged by kamikaze attacks The 88 LCS L s assigned to picket stations had two sunk and 11 damaged by kamikazes while the 11 LSM R s had three sunk and two damaged 6 7 The high casualties off Okinawa gave rise to the radar picket submarine which had the option of diving when under attack It was planned to employ converted radar picket submarines should the invasion of Japan become necessary Two submarines Grouper and Finback received rudimentary conversions during the war with the new SR search radars and the SV search radars mounted vertically as height finders 8 and two others Threadfin and Remora were completed immediately after the war with the same suite but none were used postwar in this role 9 Cold War editUnited States and Canada edit nbsp A rough map of the three warning lines From north to south the DEW Line Mid Canada Line and Pinetree Line Off the coasts are the aircraft and ships representing the ocean barrier lines and a Texas Tower During the Cold War the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Air Force jointly built and operated radar picket stations to detect Soviet bombers and the United States Navy expanded the naval radar picket concept The wartime radar picket destroyers DDR were retained and additional DDRs destroyer escorts DER submarines SSR SSRN and auxiliaries AGR were converted and built in the years 1946 1959 The naval concepts were 1 every carrier group would have radar pickets deployed around it for early warning of the increasing threat of Soviet air to surface missile attack and 2 radar pickets would form barriers off the North American coasts thus extending the land based lines While on station all of these assets other than those assigned to fleet defense were operationally controlled by the Aerospace Defense Command and after May 1958 NORAD Fixed installations edit nbsp Texas Tower 3During the 1950s the governments of Canada Denmark and the United States built three lines of fixed radar picket sites across Canada and with the DEW Line into Alaska and Greenland These were the Pinetree Line 1951 the Mid Canada Line 1956 and the Distant Early Warning DEW Line 1957 The DEW Line would be equipped with AN FPS 19 and until 1965 AN FPS 23 radars There was also a line of radar sites in Alaska extending westward from the end of the DEW Line to the end of the Aleutian Islands and a line eastward from the Greenland end of the DEW Line to Iceland the Faroe Islands and Scotland There were also three oil rig type offshore radar stations known as Texas Towers off the New England coast with AN FPS 3 later AN FPS 20 and AN FPS 6 radars Command cruiser Northampton edit nbsp USS Northampton CLC 1 When the first supercarrier United States was being designed in 1946 it was thought she would not be able to have an island or masts for radar or other antennas Therefore it was decided that a command ship was needed to escort the carrier and act not only in part as a radar picket although from the center of the task force rather than the periphery as a true picket would but also as the radar director of aircraft approach and landing on the carrier The unfinished heavy cruiser Northampton was converted under project SCB 13 into a command cruiser for this and other fleet command roles with AN SPS 2 one of only two ships with this huge installation AN SPS 3 and AN SPS 8 radars The subsequent invention of the angled flight deck made it possible to install islands and radar on supercarriers and so this role was eliminated from the Northampton conversion 10 Converted and purpose built submarines edit nbsp USS Tigrone SSR 419 in Migraine II radar picket configurationThe U S Navy continued to develop radar picket submarines SSRs after World War II under Project Migraine and by 1953 a total of 10 new SSR conversions had been performed with SR 2 and SV 2 radars Migraine I in 1946 submarine radar picket conversions were performed on Spinax and Requin these were more extensive than the rudimentary conversions made a year earlier for the planned invasion of Japan The radar equipment of these diesel submarines took the place of torpedoes in the stern torpedo rooms The radar antennas were mounted directly on the hull above the equipment where they suffered spray damage 8 Migraine II aka project SCB 12 involved raising the antennas off the hull onto masts moving the equipment to the aft battery room higher capacity GUPPY batteries were installed forward to compensate and adding topside fathometers to give a limited under ice capability The aft torpedo tubes were removed and the compartment used for berthing and storage Burrfish and Tigrone were converted and the two Migraine I submarines were also upgraded to this standard 11 Further information Balao class submarine Radar picket Further information Tench class submarine Radar picket Migraine III aka SCB 12A had the most extensive conversion with an added 27 5 foot 8 4 m compartment for an expanded CIC The search antenna was moved to an enlarged sail located over the new compartment Converted were Pompon Rasher Raton Ray Redfin and Rock 12 Further information Gato class submarine Radar picket nbsp USS Sailfish SSR 572 In 1956 two large purpose built diesel SSRs the Sailfish class were commissioned These were designed under project SCB 84 for a high surface speed with the intent of scouting in advance of carrier groups and were equipped with large BPS 2 and BPS 3 radars However the SSRs did not fare well in this mission Their maximum surfaced speed of 21 knots was too slow to effectively operate with a carrier group although it was sufficient for amphibious group operations 13 It was thought that nuclear power would solve this problem The largest most capable and most expensive radar picket submarine was the nuclear powered USS Triton SSRN 586 designed under project SCB 132 and commissioned in 1959 with the AN SPS 26 radar an electronically scanned radar fully adapted for submarine use and intended for Triton BPS 10 was never completed The longest submarine built by the United States until the Ohio class Trident missile submarines of the 1980s Triton s two reactors the only US submarine so powered allowed her to exceed 30 knots on the surface 14 15 List of radar picket submarines 15 US Atlantic Fleet USS Pompon SSR 267 USS Ray SSR 271 USS Redfin SSR 272 USS Burrfish SSR 312 USS Tigrone SSR 419 USS Requin SSR 481 USS Sailfish SSR 572 USS Triton SSRN 586 US Pacific Fleet USS Rasher SSR 269 USS Raton SSR 270 USS Rock SSR 274 USS Spinax SSR 489 USS Salmon SSR 573 Destroyer escort conversions edit nbsp An Atlantic barrier Lockheed WV 2 Warning Star later EC 121 and the radar picket destroyer escort USS Sellstrom DER 255 off Newfoundland in 1957 The 26 wartime Gearing class DDRs were supplemented by nine additional conversions during the early 1950s The seven wartime DERs were not considered worth modernizing and were relegated to secondary roles so 36 additional DER conversions were performed in 1951 through 1958 Six diesel powered Edsall class DEs were converted into DERs in 1951 and 1952 under project SCB 46 converted were Fessenden Harveson Joyce Kirkpatrick Otterstetter and Strickland 16 Two DEs which were unfinished at the end of World War II Vandivier and Wagner were completed as DERs in 1954 under SCB 46A As John C Butler class DEs they had steam powerplants and so lacked the endurance of their diesel half sisters This was an experiment intended to validate the conversion should the design be required for any future mobilization These two ships would be the first DERs to be retired in 1960 17 Another 28 Edsall class DEs would be converted into DERs from 1954 through 1957 under SCB 46B 18 The DERs were used in 1955 1965 to form two Barrier Forces known as BarLant and BarPac which extended the DEW Line from Argentia Newfoundland to the Azores in the Atlantic and from Adak Alaska to Midway in the Pacific 19 Converted merchant ships edit nbsp USS Tracer AGR 15 an ocean radar picket shipMain article Guardian class radar picket ship From 1955 to 1965 the United States Navy employed Guardian class radar picket ships converted under project SCB 126 from the former boxed aircraft transport version of the Liberty ship to create barrier lines off the East and West Coasts They were equipped with AN SPS 8 later AN SPS 30 on some ships AN SPS 12 and AN SPS 17 radars the last was specially designed for these ships Eight were homeported at Treasure Island California and eight at Davisville Rhode Island The hull classification symbol of the ships was initially YAGR changed to AGR in 1958 this change moved the ships from the naval yard and district craft category to the naval auxiliary category The standard crew consisted of 13 officers 8 chief petty officers and 125 enlisted 20 Picket stations were about 400 500 miles 640 800 km off each coast and provided an overlapping radar or electronic barrier against approaching aircraft Typical station duty was about 30 45 days out and 15 days in port While on station each ship stayed within a specific radius of its assigned picket station reporting and tracking all aircraft contacts Each ship carried qualified air controllers to direct intercept aircraft sent out to engage contacts While on station additional duties such as search and rescue weather reporting fishery studies and other miscellaneous duties were assigned Replacement by aircraft edit nbsp Grumman TBM 3W Avenger nbsp Sikorsky HR2S 1W early warning helicopterThe U S Navy began to develop airborne early warning AEW aircraft in the last years of World War II under Project Cadillac The first U S AEW aircraft were the 1945 carrier based Grumman TBM 3W Avenger under Project Cadillac I followed by the 1948 Douglas AD 3W 4W and 5W Skyraider and the 1950 Grumman AF 2W Guardian not to be confused with the AGR ships of the same name though the Skyraiders and Guardians were built in large numbers none were very successful as they were too small to function as a full CIC and all were used more often in the anti submarine warfare ASW role All of these aircraft used the AN APS 20 radar While the 1957 carrier compatible Sikorsky HR2S 1W helicopter with the AN APS 20E or AN APS 32 radar sources differ had room for a full CIC it also failed largely due to excessive vibration slow speed and cost 21 Another 1945 development was the land based Boeing PB 1W a naval B 17 variant modified under Project Cadillac II to carry the AN APS 20 radar and a full CIC this aircraft entered service too late for combat but was used for further development of the AEW concept 22 Far more successful was the land based Lockheed EC 121 Warning Star which was introduced in 1954 in both Air Force and Navy service as pickets and in other roles with the AN APS 20 and AN APS 45 radars respectively under and atop the aircraft As pickets the Air Force EC 121s provided radar coverage by flying Contiguous Barrier orbits 300 miles offshore between the coasts and the AGR Guardian picket lines The Navy version designated PO 1W then WV 1 2 and 3 before 1962 flew over the more distant BarLant and BarPac DER lines They would later be re equipped with AN APS 95 and AN APS 103 radars Their main deficiency was lack of endurance which made them unsuitable for naval fleet coverage nbsp Goodyear ZPG 3WPerhaps the most successful airborne radar pickets were the nine Goodyear ZPG 2W and ZPG 3W blimps the 2W blimps were equipped with the AN APS 20 and AN APS 69 radars in an arrangement similar to the EC 121s while the 3W blimps the largest ever built had the large AN APS 70 radar placed inside their gas envelopes Starting in 1955 they successfully combined airborne early warning radar surveillance and long endurance in all possible roles but they were fragile expensive and too slow to quickly reach stations far from base their overhead costs increased after the ASW blimps became technically obsolete due to the introduction of higher performance nuclear submarines They were retired in 1962 23 The introduction of the Grumman WF 2 Tracer later the E 1 Tracer carrier based airborne early warning aircraft in 1958 with the AN APS 82 radar followed by the Grumman E 2 Hawkeye with the AN APS 120 radar in 1964 doomed the surface and submarine radar pickets as carrier escorts later E 2 models would see the APS 120 replaced in succession with the APS 125 139 145 and AN APY 9 radar Airborne radar had now evolved to the point where it could warn of an incoming attack more efficiently than a surface ship In 1961 the DDRs and SSRs were withdrawn All but six DDRs received ASW conversions under the FRAM I and FRAM II programs and were redesignated as DDs the remaining six were somewhat modernized under FRAM II and retained in the DDR role The SSRs were converted to other roles the Sailfish class was converted to an attack submarine design under project SCB 242 or scrapped Triton was left without a mission She was too large to function as an attack submarine some alternatives were considered including serving as an underwater national command post but she eventually became the first US nuclear submarine to be decommissioned in 1969 24 25 15 Replacement by OTH radar edit By 1965 the development of over the horizon radar OTH made the barrier forces obsolete and the DERs and the AGR Guardians were retired The EC 121s would be allocated to other roles OTH radar also played a small part in the retirement of the obsolete Pinetree Line Mid Canada Line and the AN FPS 23 radars of the DEW Line PIRAZ during Vietnam edit The final use of the radar picket concept by the US Navy was in the Vietnam War The Gulf of Tonkin Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone PIRAZ guided missile cruisers and destroyer leaders aka frigates which would later be redesignated as cruisers in 1975 provided significant air control and air defense in that war 26 United Kingdom edit British aircraft direction ships edit nbsp HMS Battleaxe D118 a Weapon class destroyer after aircraft direction conversion nbsp HMS Lincoln F99 a Salisbury class frigate in 1972The British Royal Navy constructed or converted two types of dedicated aircraft direction ships in the late 1950s and early 1960s Four World War II Battle class destroyers and four Weapon class destroyers were converted 1959 1962 as Fast Air Detection Escorts to accompany fast carrier groups Also four Type 61 Salisbury class frigates were commissioned 1957 1960 to accompany slow carrier or amphibious groups However the aircraft direction function was short lived With the mid 1960s decision to phase out the fast carriers the Battle class ships were placed in reserve 1966 1968 and were scrapped or converted to non combat roles by 1974 The Salisbury class were relegated to non combat roles or sold by the end of 1978 Soviet Union edit Soviet radar picket ships edit Twenty T43 class minesweepers were converted to Project 254 KVN 50 class radar picket ships between 1955 and 1959 Modifications involved replacing the aft gun turret with a Pegmantit 8 NATO reporting name Knife Rest A or MP 500 radar NATO Big Net radar Most were retired during the 1970s or relegated to training duties with the last withdrawn in 1987 27 14 further T43 class minesweepers were converted to Project 258 KVN 6 class radar picket ships between 1973 and 1977 with Kaktus radars Some were later modified to Project 258M ships with Rubka NATO Strut Curve radars 27 Three T58 class minesweepers were converted to radar picket ships between 1975 and 1977 by replacing the aft 57 mm gun turret with a Pegmantit 10 NATO Knife Rest B radar 28 198 Three other projects were cancelled before conversions were made Project 959 further conversions the T58 class minesweeper with upgraded radar Project 962 a fourth cruiser type following on from the Kresta I Kresta II and Kara designs 29 Project 996 conversion of a Sovremennyy class destroyerSoviet radar picket submarines edit Four Project 640 submarines were converted as radar picket boats between 1959 and 1963 by fitting Project 613 submarines with Boat Sail radar in an enlarged conning tower These were known to NATO as Whiskey Canvas Bag submarines from the canvas coverings often put over the radar when NATO aircraft approached While the US radar picket submarines were intended for fleet defense the Project 640 boats were intended to provide warning of air attacks on Soviet coastal territory 30 28 119 Soviet AEW edit nbsp Tupolev Tu 126In 1958 the Soviet Union began development of an aircraft intended to act as an airborne early warning AEW radar picket in the far north along the Arctic coast so that the expense of land stations could be avoided The result the Tupolev Tu 126 NATO Moss entered service in 1965 but the Liana NATO Flat Jack radar was ineffective in tracking low flying targets over land and suffered from reflections from the aircraft s propellers 31 The Beriev A 50 Mainstay replaced the Tu 126 It first flew in 1978 32 In 1979 the development of the Yakovlev Yak 44 was begun this aircraft would have performed the AEW role aboard later Soviet aircraft carriers It was similar in layout to the Grumman E 2 Hawkeye and it would have carried a NPO Vega pulse doppler radar in a rotodome The project was cancelled in 1993 33 Late and post Cold War editAirborne early warning and control systems edit nbsp A Royal Air Force E 3 Sentry over North Yorkshire Main article Airborne early warning and control Airborne early warning and control systems AEW amp C aka AWACS in the U S were developed to replace the AEW radar pickets of the 1960s These aircraft have capabilities far beyond their predecessors They can perform complex command and control of a battlespace in air engagements by directing fighter and attack aircraft strikes AEW amp C units are also used to carry out surveillance including over ground targets and frequently perform BMC2 battle management command and control functions They are still capable of performing radar picket duties though they are seldom used in this role 34 Tethered aerostats edit nbsp Tethered Aerostat Radar SystemBeginning in 1980 the United States installed a barrier line of tethered aerostats to detect low flying aircraft over Cuba and the U S Mexican border known as the Tethered Aerostat Radar System 35 Israel developed a similar system the EL M 2083 which it sold to India and Singapore 36 A similar system JLENS was developed starting in 1998 by the United States for tracking cruise missiles and other threats but was cancelled in 2017 37 Long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs edit Proposals have been made to install similar radars on long endurance UAVs although there are conflicts between radar power requirements and UAV endurance See also edit nbsp United Kingdom portal nbsp Soviet Union portal nbsp World War II portalEarly warning radar List of radars List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy Radar Picket Ships AGR List of yard and district craft of the United States Navy Radar Picket Ships YAGR Picket military Picket boat United States general surveillance radar stations nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guardian class radar picket ships nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle class destroyer nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Salisbury class frigate References editNotes edit The prototype CH system 1939 Chain Home Operational Bournemouth University 1995 2009 Retrieved 23 August 2009 Jackson Robert 2007 Britain s Greatest Aircraft Barnsley Pen amp Sword Books Ltd p 217 ISBN 978 1 84415 383 1 a b Bowman 2016 p 144 Friedman Destroyers pp 126 176 Friedman Destroyers pp 202 206 Friedman Destroyers pp 202 210 230 233 Review by William Gordon of Rielly Robin L Kamikazes Corsairs and Picket Ships Okinawa 1945 Casemate Publishing 2008 ISBN 1 93203 386 6 a b Friedman Submarines pp 90 Friedman Submarines pp 253 Freidman Cruisers pp 340 Friedman Submarines pp 91 93 Friedman Submarines pp 91 94 96 97 Friedman Submarines pp 94 95 Friedman Submarines pp 94 98 a b c Whitman Edward C Winter Spring 2002 Cold War Curiosities U S Radar Picket Submarines Undersea Warfare Archived from the original on 10 October 2012 Retrieved 26 January 2014 Issue 14 Friedman Destroyers pp 230 231 Friedman Destroyers pp 231 232 Friedman Destroyers p 232 Friedman Destroyers pp 231 233 YAGR Website Ship List S 56 HR2S 1 H 37 Helicopter sikorskyarchives Retrieved 26 May 2019 Polmar Norman April 2023 A Bomber Without Bombs Naval History Magazine Retrieved 21 March 2023 Sky Ships A History of the Airship in the United States Navy Althoff W F Pacifica Press c1991 ISBN 0 935553 32 0 Friedman Destroyers pp 231 233 Friedman Submarines pp 96 98 Friedman Destroyers p 227 a b Jane s Weapon Systems 1988 1989 Jane s Information Group 1987 p 618 ISBN 9780710608550 a b Norman Polmar 1983 Guide to the Soviet navy Naval Institute Press ISBN 0870212397 Edward Hampshire 2017 Soviet Cold War Guided Missile Cruisers Bloomsbury Publishing p 51 ISBN 978 1472817426 Norman Polmar and Kenneth J Moore 2004 Cold War Submarines The Design and Construction of U S and Soviet Submarines Potomac Books p 27 ISBN 1574885944 Duffy and Kandalov Tupolev p136 Beriev A 50 Mainstay Spyflight co uk Retrieved 27 October 2011 Gordon Komissarov and Komissarov 2005 p 347 Neufeld 1997 p 276 Tethered Aerostat Radar System Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2017 12 01 Retrieved 2021 09 27 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link JLENS Supporters Never Mind the Blimp Save the Radar Defenseone com 5 December 2015 Sources edit Battle Experience Radar Pickets and Methods of Combating Suicide Attacks off Okinawa 20 July 1945 Bowman Martin 2016 Nachtjagd Defenders of the Reich 1940 1943 Barnsley South Yorkshire Pen and Sword Books ISBN 978 1 4738 4986 0 dtic mil definition of radar picket Duffy Paul and Kandalov Andrei Tupolev The Man and His Aircraft Shrewsbury UK Airlife 1996 ISBN 1 85310 728 X Friedman Norman 2004 US Destroyers An Illustrated Design History Revised ed Annapolis Naval Institute Press ISBN 1 55750 442 3 Friedman Norman 1994 U S Submarines Since 1945 An Illustrated Design History Annapolis Maryland United States Naval Institute ISBN 1 55750 260 9 Friedman Norman 1984 U S Cruisers an illustrated design history Annapolis MD Naval Institute Press ISBN 0 87021 718 6 OCLC 10949320 Gordon Yefim Komissarov Dmitry Komissarov Sergey 2005 OKB Yakovlev A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft Hinkley UK Midland Publishing ISBN 1 85780 203 9 Neufeld Jacob Watson Jr George M Chenoweth David 1997 Technology and the Air Force A Retrospective Assessment Washington D C United States Air Force pp 267 287 http www dtic mil cgi bin GetTRDoc AD ADA440094 amp Location U2 amp doc GetTRDoc pdf Archived 2012 10 07 at the Wayback Machine GUPPY SSR and other diesel boat conversions page Map of Okinawa picket stations in April 1945 Review by William Gordon of Rielly Robin L Kamikazes Corsairs and Picket Ships Okinawa 1945 Casemate Publishing 2008 ISBN 1 93203 386 6 USS Drexeler description of protection of Okinawa Whitman Edward C Cold War Curiosities U S Radar Picket Submarines Undersea Warfare Winter Spring 2002 Issue 14 Archived 2012 10 10 at the Wayback Machine YAGR Website Ship ListExternal links editGuarding the Cold War Ramparts The U S Navy s Role in Continental Air Defense Federation of American Scientists reprinted from the Naval War College Review Summer 1999 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Radar picket amp oldid 1188474113, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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