Carpet (jammer)

Last updated

Carpet was an early radar jamming apparatus developed by the Allies in 1942. It was installed on strategic bombers like the B-17 from late 1943 and used alongside window to defeat German gun-laying radar. By the end of World War II, two were installed in most Eighth Air Force bombers. [1]

The Würzburg radar was one of the most common in German use, and directed German flak batteries, so the British spent considerable effort countering the system during the war. In February 1942, a Würzburg-A system at Bruneval on the coast of France was captured by British Paratroopers in Operation Biting. Several key components were returned to the UK, which allowed the operational parameters of the system to be accurately determined. This led to the modification of existing transmitter systems to produce the "Carpet" system that broadcast noise on the frequencies used by particular Würzburg systems. [2] Several updated versions of Carpet were introduced; Carpet II was the primary UK version while Carpet III (also known as the APT-2 Carpet) was its US-built counterpart. [3] The system could be tuned for both spot jamming and barrage jamming.

Carpet worked as part of a system of radar countermeasures. Mandrel and Dina jammed early warning radar, screening bombers as they formed up. Leading planes dispensed Window to cloak the rest of the formation. Carpet (both set to preset frequencies, or used with the Blinker system for spot jamming) then helped protect the leading planes, as well as defeating German Window-countermeasures by forcing them to constantly retune their radar systems. The result was a serious degradation of German air defense capabilities, especially during blind bombing conditions. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Biting</span> British Combined Operations raid during World War II

Operation Biting, also known as the Bruneval Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid on a German coastal radar installation at Bruneval in northern France, during the Second World War, on the night of 27–28 February 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic countermeasure</span> Electronic device for deceiving detection systems

An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy. The system may make many separate targets appear to the enemy, or make the real target appear to disappear or move about randomly. It is used effectively to protect aircraft from guided missiles. Most air forces use ECM to protect their aircraft from attack. It has also been deployed by military ships and recently on some advanced tanks to fool laser/IR guided missiles. It is frequently coupled with stealth advances so that the ECM systems have an easier job. Offensive ECM often takes the form of jamming. Self-protecting (defensive) ECM includes using blip enhancement and jamming of missile terminal homers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lichtenstein radar</span> German airborne radar in World War II

The Lichtenstein radar was among the earliest airborne radars available to the Luftwaffe in World War II and the first one used exclusively for air interception. Developed by Telefunken, it was available in at least four major revisions, called FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C, FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1, FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 and the very rarely used FuG 228 Lichtenstein SN-3.. The Lichtenstein series remained the only widely deployed airborne interception radar used by the Germans on their night fighters during the war — the competing FuG 216 through 218 Neptun mid-VHF band radar systems were meant as a potentially more versatile stop-gap system through 1944, until the microwave-based FuG 240 "Berlin" could be mass-produced; the Berlin system was still being tested when the war ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freya radar</span> Early warning radar deployed by Germany during World War II

Freya was an early warning radar deployed by Germany during World War II; it was named after the Norse goddess Freyja. During the war, over a thousand stations were built. A naval version operating on a slightly different wavelength was also developed as the Seetakt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Würzburg radar</span> Ground-based gun laying radar for the Wehrmachts Luftwaffe and German Army during World War II

The low-UHF band Würzburg radar was the primary ground-based tracking radar for the Wehrmacht's Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine during World War II. Initial development took place before the war and the apparatus entered service in 1940. Eventually, over 4,000 Würzburgs of various models were produced. It took its name from the city of Würzburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 100 Group RAF</span> Former Royal Air Force operations group

No. 100 Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command. The group was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures in one organisation. The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of electronic warfare and countermeasures equipment. It was based at RAF stations in East Anglia, chiefly Norfolk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H2X</span> American ground scanning radar system used during World War II

H2X, officially known as the AN/APS-15, was an American ground scanning radar system used for blind bombing during World War II. It was a development of the British H2S radar, the first ground mapping radar to be used in combat. It was also known as the "Mickey set" and "BTO" for "bombing through the overcast" radar.

Electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) is a part of electronic warfare which includes a variety of practices which attempt to reduce or eliminate the effect of electronic countermeasures (ECM) on electronic sensors aboard vehicles, ships and aircraft and weapons such as missiles. ECCM is also known as electronic protective measures (EPM), chiefly in Europe. In practice, EPM often means resistance to jamming. A more detailed description defines it as the electronic warfare operations taken by a radar to offset the enemy's countermeasure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telecommunications Research Establishment</span>

The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) was the main United Kingdom research and development organisation for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II and the years that followed. It was regarded as "the most brilliant and successful of the English wartime research establishments" under "Rowe, who saw more of the English scientific choices between 1935 and 1945 than any single man."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kammhuber Line</span>

The Kammhuber Line was the name given by the Allies to the German night-fighter air-defence system established in western Europe in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter. Each sector would direct the night fighter into visual range to target intruding bombers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaff (countermeasure)</span> Radar countermeasure

Chaff, originally called Window or Düppel, is a radar countermeasure involving the dispersal of thin strips of aluminium, metallized glass fiber, or plastic. Dispersed chaff produces a large radar cross section intended to blind or disrupt radar systems.

No. 515 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force formed during the Second World War. It ushered in Electronic countermeasures (ECM) warfare, jamming enemy radar installations from October 1942 as the only such squadron in the RAF initially. Later in the war 515 Sqn was joined by other squadrons as part of No. 100 Group RAF. The squadron disbanded after VE day, when the need for such a specialised squadron had reduced.

During World War II, the German Luftwaffe relied on an increasingly diverse array of electronic communications, IFF and RDF equipment as avionics in its aircraft and also on the ground. Most of this equipment received the generic prefix FuG for Funkgerät, meaning "radio equipment". Most of the aircraft-mounted Radar equipment also used the FuG prefix. This article is a list and a description of the radio, IFF and RDF equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Ruhr</span> British bombing campaign during World War II

The Battle of the Ruhr was a strategic bombing campaign against the Ruhr Area in Nazi Germany carried out by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. The Ruhr was the main centre of German heavy industry with coke plants, steelworks, armaments factories and ten synthetic oil plants. The British attacked 26 targets identified in the Combined Bomber Offensive. Targets included the Krupp armament works (Essen), the Nordstern synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen and the Rheinmetall–Borsig plant in Düsseldorf, which was evacuated during the battle. The battle included cities such as Cologne not in the Ruhr proper but which were in the larger Rhine-Ruhr region and considered part of the Ruhr industrial complex. Some targets were not sites of heavy industry but part of the production and movement of materiel.

Frequency agility is the ability of a radar system to quickly shift its operating frequency to account for atmospheric effects, jamming, mutual interference with friendly sources, or to make it more difficult to locate the radar broadcaster through radio direction finding. The term can also be applied to other fields, including lasers or traditional radio transceivers using frequency-division multiplexing, but it remains most closely associated with the radar field and these other roles generally use the more generic term "frequency hopping".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FuG 240 Berlin</span> Late-World-War-II German airborne interception radar system

The FuG 240 "Berlin" was an airborne interception radar system operating at the "lowest end" of the SHF radio band, which the German Luftwaffe introduced at the very end of World War II. It was the first German radar to be based on the cavity magnetron, which eliminated the need for the large multiple dipole-based antenna arrays seen on earlier radars, thereby greatly increasing the performance of the night fighters. Introduced by Telefunken in April 1945, only about 25 units saw service.

Laus was the name for a series of German ECCM equipment during World War II. They were additions to German radar equipment in order to counteract the Allied use of 'Window', a chaff radar countermeasure.

German Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine Radar Equipment during World War II, relied on an increasingly diverse array of communications, IFF and RDF equipment for its function. Most of this equipment received the generic prefix FuG, meaning "radio equipment". During the war, Germany renumbered their radars. From using the year of introduction as their number they moved to a different numbering scheme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airborne Cigar</span> World War II-era electronic countermeasure system

Airborne Cigar, or ABC for short, was a World War II electronic countermeasure (ECM) system developed by the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) to jam Luftwaffe ground-to-air radios operating in the very high frequency (VHF) band. When used properly, the system made enemy night fighter communications almost impossible. The Germans referred to ABC as "dudelsack", German for bagpipes, in reference to the warbling sound.

References

  1. 1 2 Kuehl, Daniel T. (1992). The Radar Eye Blinded: The USAF and Electronic Warfare, 1945-1955 (Thesis). p. 27.
  2. Price, Alfred (2003). "A new look at 'The Wizard War'" (PDF). Royal Air Force Historical Society (28).
  3. "Jamming Devices".